Pesto chicken with roasted tomatoes and Milanese couscous

"Milanese couscous" - cracking name, don't you think?  After a bit of research, it's what I've called the couscous dish that I made to accompany the Pesto chicken.

I made the Pesto chicken once prior to starting the Rhubarb & Ginger blog and it had become lost in the sands of time.  Well, until I noticed I had half a jar of pesto lurking in the fridge, waiting to be used for something.  A quick ponder and my normally unreliable brain threw out the "how about Pesto chicken?" idea.

As the chicken I'd used in the previous incarnation had been hugely inferior to the chicken breasts I can find these days, I could only think that the dish would be better than last time - and let me tell you, last time was pretty darned good!

I had one problem with the making of the dish, which was that as fast as I tried to spoon the filling into the chicken, it was coming straight back out again on the same teaspoon.  *sigh*  Losing sensation in my hands is really becoming a problem!  However, I shall sidetrack that next time, and buy a piping set.  That'll solve that particular problem and if you have one, I'd recommend using it when you make this chicken dish.  You WILL be making it, won't you?


For the breadcrumbs, I had unusually run out of my frozen breadcrumb stash, so just whizzed up a crust and a slice of Oatilicious bread which made the most lovely breadcrumbs.  So if you don't have oaty bread, it might be worth adding a tablespoon of rolled oats to the blender when you're making your next batch of breadcrumbs!


I've given the recipe for the Milanese couscous here as well, as it went so beautifully with the chicken that I thought it would be nice to give details for an entire course, as opposed to simply the meat part, or the vegetable part.


The couscous is based - loosely - on the Ottolenghi Green Couscous, but is dealing completely with Italian flavours such as Grana Padano cheese, basil and pine nuts.  In fact, that's where I got the "Milanese" bit from - as Grana Padano hails from near to Milan.  Don't worry if you don't have Grana Padano, because Parmesan will do just as well.


PESTO CHICKEN WITH ROASTED TOMATOES (serves 3)


Ingredients :


3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tbsp green pesto
50g mascarpone
2 tbsp olive oil
100g breadcrumbs
9-12 cherry tomatoes on the vine
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Method :


1.  Pre-heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.


2.  Cut into the thick end of the chicken breast, moving the knife around to create a pocket within, but with a small opening.


3.  Mix the pesto and mascarpone together, then carefully fill each chicken breast with the mixture (this is where the piping bag would come in handy!).


4.  Drizzle a little olive oil over each chicken breast, then roll them in the breadcrumbs and place onto a baking tray.  Press a little extra breadcrumbs into the top surface of each chicken breast, then season.


5.  Sprinkle the cherry tomatoes around the chicken, then place into the oven for 20-25 minutes.


Serve with :


MILANESE COUSCOUS (serves 3)


Ingredients :


1 onion, sliced thinly
a knob of butter
1 tsp olive oil
4-5 chestnut mushrooms, sliced thinly
100g fresh parsley, chopped roughly
100g fresh basil
a handful of pine nuts
30g Grana Padano, grated finely
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
150g couscous
150ml boiling chicken stock
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tbsp lemon juice.


Method :


1.  In a frying pan, melt the butter and add the olive oil, then gently fry the onion until golden and just starting to caramelise.  Add the mushroom slices and cook for another 3-4 minutes.  Add a pinch of sea salt and put aside to keep warm.


2.  In a mini-blender, add the parsley, basil, Grana Padano, pine nuts and olive oil.  Whizz until you have created a herb paste.


3.  Place the couscous into a large bowl and add the stock.  Cover with cling film and set aside for around 10 minutes.  Remove the cling film and fluff up the grains with a fork.


4.  Then add the herb paste and stir through evenly.  Add the onions and mushrooms and stir through.  Season to taste - including with black pepper.  Add the lemon juice and serve.


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Chicken, bacon, chicken & prawns, chicken, pork, chicken twice over : Looks like it's chicken, this week!

I do seem to have gone a bit mad on the chicken in this week's Menu Plan, but that's just the way it happened.  ~shrug~  I suspect that it's part and parcel of trying to think of meals that aren't too "bad for you".  Inevitably, you wind up with an awful lot of chicken - especially as fish has rocketed in price just lately.

Now, to finish off last week - we had the Chicken, Fennel & Tomato Ragu on Sunday evening, which had a mixed reception.  A third of the way into making the dish, hubby announced that he's never found a chicken/tomato recipe that he's really enjoyed - and although he loves fennel, he wasn't sure how it would all come together.  Well, he was right in a lot of ways - although just after suffering from food poisoning wasn't perhaps the best time to try this recipe out!


Just cutting up the chicken had me wishing we'd had sausages for that meal instead, but I soldiered on.  Incidentally, I've discovered that when cutting up ingredients that are fresh from the fridge, they have the capacity to make my hands lose sensation.  You can't imagine how difficult it is to chop up chicken breasts when you can't hold the darned things still!  I've still got all my fingers though, so my strategy of dunking my hands in warm water to thaw them out, obviously worked.


The dish was nice enough - the fennel was lovely and made a very pleasant change.  Having been a bit acidic, the addition of a teaspoon of sugar helped to iron that out.  However, "okay" wasn't really what I was going for with it, regrettably.


Incidentally, the Maribell jacket potatoes were gorgeous.  Rub them with olive oil, cover with salt and pepper and roast in a hot oven for an hour - fabulous!


Now then, what different incarnations of chicken are we having for this week's menu plan?  I hear you ask.  Well, maybe you didn't, but I'm going to tell you anyway.  Here's how it shapes up :

Tuesday : Pesto chicken with roast tomatoes and couscous

Wednesday : New Potato Salad with Bacon & Goats' Cheese

Thursday : Spanish Paella-inspired ricey thing

Friday : Sticky chinese chicken & thai carrot salad

Saturday : Pork with lemongrass & cinnamon, with rice (from Adora's Box)

Sunday : Pot roast chicken, roast parsnips & potatoes, broccoli & peas

with sausagemeat stuffing balls

Monday : Coronation chicken, pitta bread and salad.

<insert short break to collect a glass of Canti Zinfandel Rose>

Now, where was I?  ~sips daintily~  Ah yes!  The Pesto Chicken.

It being Tuesday, we've done the shopping and so begins a new week of striving to produce delicious dinners that don't cost the earth, that everyone enjoys and (no point in lying) that will be interesting to blog about.

I must just recount what happened to us today though.  Hubby will probably have my hide for telling you this, but part-way through the shopping, I went back to the herbs aisle to see if some Basil had been put out as there wasn't any on our first pass.  As I turned around to go catch up with hubby, I saw an unaccompanied trolley that looked to have inside it everything that we'd selected earlier.  "How funny!" I thought.  Can't be OUR trolley, because hubby's driving that further up the shop - so I didn't say anything about it.  Fast forward to hubby loading the shopping into the car and looking for the sausage rolls he'd bought.  He came to the conclusion that he must have left a bag of shopping behind, but couldn't believe he could have done so, so we didn't go back to check.  Upon getting home and emptying out all the bags, he discovered that a whole bagful was missing.  "It's got the ham, the fruit fools, the cheese spread, the greek yoghurt ...." he was saying, when I got a flashback to that trolley I saw.  Sure enough, he'd made off with someone else's trolley (which had to be empty at the time, as we didn't have any odd shopping), leaving ours to sit - where I spotted it on my trip back for the Basil!  How much do I wish I'd have said about it?  It would have saved another trip (to Sainsbury's, this time) for shopping!  Still, it's quite funny, all the same.

So, after seemingly shopping all day, I made the Pesto Chicken and couscous.  My hand problem made stuffing the chicken breasts with the squidgy pesto/mascarpone mixture nigh on impossible, but at least some of it got in there!  I am so going to have to get a piping set!  It's a really lovely dish, this one, in that the chicken stays beautifully moist and the roast tomatoes are just divine.  The couscous was made after the style of Ottolenghi's Green Couscous, but to my own recipe this time.  I used all Italian flavourings, like basil, grana padano cheese and pine nuts along with sliced onion & mushroom fried in a little olive oil.  Add a squeeze of lemon just before serving and everyone approved.  Well, except for son & heir's hate of the humble mushroom.  He was able to remove his mushrooms fairly easily though.

Watch the blog, as I'll be detailing the recipe as my next blog post.

I'm really quite excited about tomorrow's salad, as it was created with the help of four or five Twitter pals, whose suggestions for "a salad that doesn't involve salad leaves" came together in the dish I'll be making on Wednesday.

It's going to involve Jersey Royal new potatoes - but roasted, not boiled.  Some gorgeous butcher's bacon grilled until crispy, mushrooms, roasted red onion and watercress & spinach salad (neither of which count as a "salad leaf", alright?), all dressed in a mustard & red wine dressing, with creamy goat's cheese crumbled over the top.  I can't wait!

Hubby has a recipe in mind for Thursday, which involves something along the lines of a Spanish Paella, except with just chicken and prawns.  You know when you have a picture in your mind and a flavour on your tongue, but you can't quite put it into words?  Well that's it.  We'll just have to wait and see what turns up at the end of it - but it should be good, as we've even invested in some saffron!

Oooh dear, then it's Friday.  ~quake~quiver~  I'm skeered of Friday, because Alfie the Amalfi Lemon Coloured Skoda goes in for his MOT.  I may very easily not have any fingernails left, after this day.  Nor any cash left in my bank account.  However, I will be having a lovely dinner - consisting of yummy Sticky Chinese chicken with a lovely Thai carrot salad, which involves rice noodles and peanuts.  Yum!

Photo c/o BBC Good Food website

The chicken is simplicity itself to make - I just need to remember to make it early so that it can marinade.  The salad is just a matter of grating a whole heap of carrots, soaking the rice noodles and assembling the rest of the ingredients.  I should be able to do that, even with a diabolical stress headache - which I anticipate being the owner of, by then.

Still, the happy news is that by Saturday it will all be over and we'll know where we stand regarding the work that Alfie needs to have done - and more to the point, how much it's going to cost!

To celebrate, I'm planning on making use of the lovely Adora's Box blog, where her Pork with Lemongrass and Cinnamon has caught my eye.  You can find the recipe here.  Looks good, doesn't it?  I'll let you know how I get on with it!

I've stayed away from roast dinners for quite some time now, and this coming Sunday we'll be having a pot roast chicken for two reasons.  One, because I am missing roast chicken, two, because I'm missing roast parsnips and three, because we can have Coronation chicken for tea on Monday!

Son & heir adores Coronation chicken and I have to admit that I'm a sucker for it myself.  Hubby isn't quite so enamoured of it, but I'm hoping that if I make sure that the pitta breads are more manageable than the usual "resembling a bus crash" that I usually turn out, he might look upon the whole experience in a more favourable light.  In fact, thinking on, I could always make them into Coronation chicken wraps, instead!  Still a bit messy and squidgy, but at least they're capable of being eaten with a knife and fork!  Do you know, I may well do that.

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Apres-boot sale brunch at The Cafe Rouge, Westbourne

Car boot survival kit!

I took the chaps into town for the regular Sunday morning boot sale at the Greyhound/Speedway Stadium.

Because I'm now incapable of walking around a boot sale, I take my tried and tested boot sale survival kit.  It involves a book, a bottle of something nice to drink (in this case, mineral water) and some fruit or another (in this case, two apricots).  All of which make sitting in a baking hot car park for nigh on an hour, rather more bearable.

Not much of a view!

Still, they came back with quite a haul today!  They found me a James Blunt CD, a potato ricer, a lovely blue & white china plate (I'm a sucker for blue & white china) and some hand grip exercisers (you wouldn't believe how I'm losing my grip - hahahahaha! - no, seriously).  Son & heir found a radio which he could take apart (yes, he's into that phase at the moment, nothing is safe) and hubby came back with some bits and pieces for himself too.

We were just preparing to leave the car park, when hubby suggested we go for a bite of breakfast somewhere.  What an extraordinarily civilised idea!

The question was, where to go?  After juggling various names and rejecting them because of the parking/walking situation, we settled upon the Cafe Rouge at Westbourne.

After a short stagger, during which I discovered that my knees really DON'T like going over unlevel ground, we took our places in their conservatory where it was both light and airy.  There were several other families there for a late breakfast, so we didn't feel at all out of place.

The breakfast menu is really fairly varied and after toying with the idea of scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, or maybe croque monsieur, or pain perdu with mixed berries, or how about an omelette, I settled on a basket of baked goods, which included a baguette, a mini croissant and a mini pain au chocolat.  Everything was warmed, the baguette was fresh and fluffy with just the right amount of crustiness.  The croissant was two mouthfuls of loveliness and the pain au chocolat was suitably chocolatey.  The Bonne Maman strawberry jam was predictably good.

Suitably French? Perhaps not, but nice all the same!

Son & heir went for the Croque Madame which turned out to be far from delicate or ladylike, being a socking great wodge of sliced bloomer bread with ham sandwiched inside, covered in a deliciously creamy grilled cheese confection that was topped off with a fried egg!

A great wodge of Croque Madame. Oh, but the cheese! So creamy! So oh la la!

Hubby was going with the French theme and settled for a whopping great croissant.  Coffee was ordered, two lattes for hubby and myself and an Americano for son & heir - who very quickly swapped his for hubby's latte, once he tasted how strong it was!  I noticed that hubby very definitely wasn't complaining.

The prices were all very achievable, the atmosphere was friendly and the decor charming.  I particularly liked the fact that the wall lamps all had a different shade - which sounds a horrible mish-mash, but in fact worked extremely well.

We all very much approved of this as an approach to Sunday mornings - and I suspect The Cafe Rouge may well see a bit more of us from time to time!

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Bolognese Pasta Bake & Ras-Al-Hanout Chicken - two days, two dinners

I've decided to lump these two dinners in one blog post because neither of them had us hanging out the flags with delight.  As a consequence, I won't be detailing a recipe for either of them, but they're very worth talking about.

Firstly, the Bolognese Pasta Bake.

Well, it sounds nice enough - Bolognese with pasta, baked with Mozzarella cheese on top.  Mmmmn, sounds promising!  However, and I suspect this may well just be a "Jenny's Taste" thing, as opposed to a general point of view, but I really like my pasta bolognese to stay separate from one another.  That is, the pasta is on the base, with the bolognese sauce in a neat heap on top, sprinkled liberally with parmesan.  Not all mixed into one.

You see, the thing I enjoy most about bolognese, is eating the sauce on its own and choosing to eat some pasta at intervals throughout.  I know, call me picky.  It's one of the rare times when I am picky, to be honest!

I just didn't think about that aspect of it when we agreed to use up the mozzarella in this way.  Of course, the mozzarella melted on top of the saucy pasta was completely divine - but then mozzarella always is!  Unfortunately, it doesn't soak through the pasta and once you've eaten the cheese, all you're left with is saucy pasta.  But hey ho, even if I wasn't impressed - the chaps ate theirs and Son & heir would have eaten the leftovers today, if we hadn't have gone to Cafe Rouge for breakfast!

So, moving on - the next dinner was Ras-al-hanout chicken, with new potatoes and salad.

I suspect there must have been a male:female imbalance thing going on here, because the chaps both declared the chicken to be bland, whereas I was musing approvingly to myself how Ras-al-hanout has a stealth heat which sneaks up on you.  Granted, it isn't ever the sort of heat that you would find too much, but it was very definitely there!

The chicken was simply butterflied, then put into a bowl with olive oil, salt & pepper and the Ras-al-hanout mix where it sat for the next 30 minutes, before going into the oven for 25 minutes, thence onto the plate.  So, simple enough - but obviously lacking in flavour for the chaps.

The salad was just that - salad - however the new potatoes are worth a word.  After much sampling, we have discovered that Jersey Royal new potatoes are far tastier (even to the point where hubby enjoys them - and he hates potatoes with a deadly loathing) when you buy them as "muddy spuds" (i.e. with the dirt still attached) than when you buy them all beautifully washed and ready for the pot, sealed up in a plastic bag.  Now this interesting point is one which I have been sure was true, for as long as pre-packed bags of spuds have been available.  I'm just glad that places like Asda see fit to cater for both types of consumer - the muddy and the clean!

It is hard to consider that mud has any great taste benefits, but I suspect that it may well be the cleaning process that eradicates subtle flavour trails within the potatoes.  Of course, I have no scientific backup for this opinion.  It is just that - my opinion.

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So simple! Spicy minced lamb

Although the recipe for this Spicy minced lamb is incredibly easy, it is definitely worth blogging about.  Any recipe that takes as little as this one does - yet turns out an appetising and delicious result, is always worth passing on.

The "recipe" is one which has evolved over the years and is a great stand-by for those moments when you want something homey and warming, but don't want to spend ages creating it and equally don't want anything too challenging on the tastebuds.

I served it with Ottolenghi's Green Couscous, which was a stroke of brilliance on my part and provided us with a welcome injection of green food, but without having to think about it being palatable or what sauce to go with it!  The mince contains all the right kinds of flavours to go with the Green Couscous and the two of them were very comfortable bedfellows (or should it be "platefellows"?).

SPICY MINCED LAMB  (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :

500g minced lamb
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 garlic clove, grated
a pinch of chilli flakes
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
400g tin of chick peas
1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped.

Method :

1.  In a dry frying pan, brown the minced lamb until all the water has been burned off and the mince is beginning to caramelise on the pan.

2.  Add the ground cumin, ground coriander, garlic and chilli and continue to cook for a minute or two, mixing to ensure all is well combined.  You may need to add a little olive oil at this stage, depending on how fatty the mince was.

3.  Add the tomatoes, tomato ketchup and chick peas and stir to combine.  Add a little water to let the mixture down, if it needs it.  Simmer for around 10 minutes (or as long as it takes to make the Green Couscous!).

4.  When the mixture has reduced and combined, stir through the fresh coriander and serve.

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The best (and biggest!) Cornish Pasties

If I can remember that far back (last Tuesday - it's a close run thing, to be honest!), I seem to recall that I made some crackingly good Cornish Pasties.

Now, of course, one wonders whether they should in fact be called "Dorset Pasties" as we're in Dorset, not Cornwall.  However, I think we can safely leave that a moot point and in calling them "Cornish", I trust everyone will know what sort of pasty we're talking about.

The original plan, with this pasty meal, was to have the Cornish Pasties with an accompanying salad.  I had thought that would be somewhat healthier (less fat & sugar, potentially) than baked beans and chips.  However, when I checked on them in the oven and saw what a humungous size they had reached, I quickly revised that idea.  It seemed to me that the pasty itself would be quite enough for a meal (as indeed, was the original idea behind them) with perhaps a few baked beans in order to provide something to lubricate the jaws.  Quite apart from anything else, I was beginning to feel distinctly peculiar - and the idea of putting together a salad was rapidly becoming less and less attractive both from a personal point of view and from a "not passing on whatever I've got" point of view.

So, the chaps had one each with some baked beans - and indeed, they proved perfectly adequate for a meal.  All of which leads me to suppose it might be better to draw 4" circles in the pastry, rather than 8" circles, in order to produce a smaller more manageable pasty!

I used shop-bought frozen puff pastry and it was brought home to me just how enfeebled I had become, because the simple act of rolling out the pastry was incredibly difficult.  When I'd done the first quarter - and cut out the first circle - I can remember thinking "OMG - I've three more of these to go!".  Which is crazy, when you consider that I used to think nothing of picking up 25kg of horse feed bag and slinging it over my shoulder.  How times change!

I kept the ingredients for the filling completely traditional, apart from the fact that I used some lovely steak mince, rather than cut up a piece of steak.  I felt this would rule out any pieces of steak being too "bouncy" and not tender enough, plus there was the outside chance that some fat would get through the net.  

Another interesting point regarding the pasties, is that I used the Mandolin to cut the potatoes, onions and swede.  This ensured that they were cut to the exact-same thickness and although each slice wasn't cut in the exact-same way, so some were bigger in diameter than others, it seemed to work beautifully where the cooking time was concerned.  I have, in the past, had pasties come out of the oven with the potato or the swede still really quite hard, where I've diced them instead of sliced them.

I put the slices into a bowl, which enabled me to balance the quantities of all three much more easily than taking a little handful for each pasty.  You could see, once you'd added the onion, how much potato you would need and likewise the swede.  It also enabled me to season with freshly ground black pepper - loads of it! - and sea salt, mixing the slices to ensure the seasoning was carried throughout the filling.  I did give each pasty a little extra grind of both seasonings just before closing them, but hubby reckons that although they were very nice, I could still have given them more pepper.

A note about the pastry.  I rolled the pastry out between two pieces of cling film (a la Rachel Allen), which is by far the cleanest way I know of it do it.  Now this has the added benefit, once you've cut out your circle, of providing you with some cling film to close over the top of the pastry and prevent it from drying out while you make the other three!  I found it was worth turning the pastry over before adding the filling, as it was easier to pick it up from the cling film, that way.

As for the crimping, well, in the past my pasties have looked rather like a rabid dog has put them together.  However, this time, I was quite pleased with the crimping and it looked even better once they'd cooked.  For once - faint! - none of them came undone in the cooking!

CORNISH PASTIES  (makes 4 x 8" circles = 4 pasties)

Ingredients :


1 pack with 2 blocks of Puff Pastry
300g steak mince
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
175g swede, peeled, thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
beaten egg.


Method :


1.  Pre-heat oven to 220c/fan 200c/gas 7.


2.  Roll out the pastry, a half a pack at a time, in between two pieces of cling film and until you can place an 8" plate on top with extra to spare around the edges.  Remove the top layer of cling film and draw a knife around the plate to remove the extra pastry.  Close the cling film over the circle and leave it to one side while you prepare the remaining circles.


3.  Using a Mandolin - or by slicing as finely and evenly as possible with a knife - slice the onion, potatoes and swede.  Place the onion directly into a bowl, however with the potato and swede, cut each slice (you can heap them and cut a number at one time) into four, then place in the bowl.


4.  Add the seasoning - and go wild with the pepper, as these pasties can take a huge amount of black pepper - and mix through with your fingers.


5.  Take the first of your circles and peel the cling film from it, turn it over and place it back onto the cling film.  Add a handful of vegetable mix along the centre line and add a quarter of the steak mince, broken into pieces, along the same line and on top of the vegetables.


6.  Season again, then brush a little of the beaten egg mixture around the outside edges of the circle.  Bring the half furthest away from you up and over the top of the meat & vegetables, towards you, sealing it on its opposite side.  Then, starting from one end, crimp the edges - sealing as you go.


7.  Once done, cut three lines into the body of the pasty and place onto a baking tray.  Brush with the egg wash and place into the oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180c/fan 160c/gas 4 and bake for 45 mins or so until golden.


Serve warm.









 

It all started so well, with Cornish Pasties, of all things ...

As I recall (and a lot has happened since then, so I could be wrong), the last thing I spoke to you all about, was the Chicken Caesar Salad.  Seems like a lifetime ago!

First of all, I have to publicly thank Dominic for the box of Picota Cherries that reached us safely on Saturday morning.  Such a cute box!  I set out with great intentions of making a cherry clafouti, or individual cherry tartlets - but fate just has a hand in these things sometimes and unfortunately, I didn't get around to making anything other than the odd lovely bowl of "fresh from the fridge" cherries with greek yoghurt on top.  I am ashamed to say that I didn't even (goodness knows how) manage to get a photograph of them.  I hang my head in penitence.

What Pad Thai SHOULD look like!

On the Sunday, we were due to have the Pasticcio - but due to unforeseen circumstances, I lost all will to cook the darned thing at around 3pm that afternoon.  So, we opted out and had a Chinese Takeaway instead.  From No.1 Wok, it was predictably yummy - all except the Pad Thai, which was so over cooked, it had degenerated into a sloppy, slimy mess.  The Nasi Goreng was lacking in chilli and had obviously been seriously westernised, but the King Prawn curry, Honey Chilli Chicken, King Prawn sweet & sour plus all the rices were delicious.

Monday saw hubby doing battle with the smoke alarm, as he cooked his way through grilled sausage, grilled bacon, fried egg, mushrooms, baked beans, tinned tomatoes and a fried slice of his own home-made bread, for everyone.  It's just as well we've got a kitchen door which shuts effectively, or I'd have been camped out under the smoke alarm with a fan!

As ever, Tuesday is shopping day.  We go directly after dropping Son & heir at school, which gets us to the supermarket at around 8.30am.  This ensures that a) there will be a disabled buggy available and b) that it will be charged up and ready to go.  It also has the added bonus of there not being too many people around, at that time in the morning.  In fact, by the time we leave, the car park will have just about filled up.

Needless to say, we haven't had breakfast by then and so we tend to pick up something to have with a cup of coffee when we get home.  On this occasion, it was a pack of two innocent-looking Belgian Buns from the Bakery.  Which were very nice - a naughty treat - right up until I began to feel a bit peculiar later in the evening.  In fact, it was just as I was about to serve up our home-made Cornish Pasties (of which, a blog will appear later)!  This "feeling peculiar" continued across the next two days, hubby joined in around 2-3 hours after I began to go down with it and we both were completely out of action (barring taking Son & heir to school and collecting him again, then making him something to eat) for the next two days.

Just as well I don't have claws, really!

We were both fighting nausea, had debilitating stomach pains and I broke out in an alarming-looking itchy rash.  It occurred on my arms on Tuesday evening, but progressed to my back by Wednesday evening - but the odd thing was that it went away during the day.  It was very like the rash I get when I've had too much garlic, so I take it to be my body's way of dealing with something it really doesn't like.  Poor old Son & heir was quite concerned about the pair of us, although he did get the added bonus of a particularly nice pizza which we'd bought for him on Wednesday evening, as a defence against having to cook.

So there we are.  The sorry and somewhat un-nerving tale of our lost two to three days.  I think I'm just about over it now, and hubby is following along - although he's had a rather harder time of it, as he was required to pitch in and do a whole heap of housework on the Wednesday, before the Occupational Therapist arrived to check out our new patio.  Poor soul, he did a brilliant job that obviously didn't do him any good at all, health-wise.

Of course, all this has thrown my meal plan into disarray.  Although, I am ultimately happy to report that we've been able to keep to the plan for every day other than Wednesday, when we opted for the ready-made dinners in Sainsbury's chiller cabinet, rather than cook.  What did I have?  Well you won't be surprised to hear that I chose a Shepherd's Pie.  What else would do the trick?  Hubby chose sausages, but ultimately had one of the leftover Cornish Pasties from the day before and Son & heir chose what looked to be a completely gorgeous pizza with a stuffed crust.  It was only the circumstances that prevented me from mugging him for a taste.

That's an 8-inch plate it's sitting on!

So!  These Cornish Pasties - completed against the odds (and I have sampled one since) are truly the best Cornish Pasties I've managed to produce, to date.  I kept the recipe simple - just potato, swede and onion, plus the best steak mince I could find - and a whole heap of freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.  I also used the mandolin to cut the vegetables, as I figured they would benefit from all being a similar thickness.  Seemed to do the trick!.

They baked up to be the most enormous pasties I've ever seen - one each was more than enough for a dinner, with the addition of a few baked beans to help them go down.  As said before, hubby managed one before being struck down by the lurgy and Son & heir happily waded his way through his, with a big smile on his face.

I've dealt with Wednesday above, but Thursday should have been Calzones & salad.  Hubby was in no fit state to be making bread dough, so the Spicy Lamb Mince & Ottolenghi's Green Couscous that we should have had on Wednesday, filled the gap.

It's the first time I've cooked this Spicy Lamb Mince and I have to say that I'll very definitely be doing it again, as it was really delicious.  Together with the Green Couscous - which came up trumps and was as gorgeous as the first time I made it - they went really well and made a healthy plus flavoursome meal for jaded tastebuds.

I won't deny that both hubby and myself had a bit of a tummy-twinge thereafter, but it was worth it to get some "proper food" down your gullet!

Well, that brings us to tonight and the rest of the week, which is shaping up as follows :

Friday : Mozzarella Bolognese Bake

Saturday : Ras-al-hanout Chicken with salad

Sunday : Chicken & Fennel Ragu with Jacket potatoes & peas

Monday : Sausage meatballs in gravy, with mash & vegetables.

I don't think anything there jumps out at you as being particularly special or even challenging - which is just the way I like it, at the moment!

The Mozzarella Bolognese Bake is based (lightly) on the Pasticcio idea, but with a view to using up the two Mozzarella balls that are left over from the Calzones that didn't happen.  I make a Mozzarella & Sausage Pasta Bake which is a family favourite, so it's going down those sorts of lines.

Saturday's Ras-al-Hanout chicken is an incredibly simple dish of chicken rubbed and marinated in Ras-al-Hanout, then grilled and paired up with a salad of chargrilled peppers, olives, cherry tomatoes and lettuce with some buttered new potatoes.  Nothing to frighten the horses involved with this, but hopefully will prove to be very nice, all the same.

Now the Chicken & Fennel Ragu on Sunday is something I'm looking forward to cooking.  I picked it up from the internet somewhere - but for the life of me I can't remember where and I forgot to note down on the page where I got it from.  Hence, if it's your recipe - do let me know and I'll credit you with it!  I've managed to get some of the lovely Marabel baking potatoes again, which were so nice the last time we had them.  I can't see it requiring much more than a few peas to bring colour to the table, so again, another simple but (hopefully) lovely meal.

Hubby's in charge on Monday again, and he's further exploring his sausage meatball line.  This time, it's going to be sausage meatballs in gravy (I'm hoping for onion gravy), with mashed potatoes and vegetables - probably involving carrots and broccoli.  Well, if that doesn't get us back on our feet, nothing will!

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Apologies for silence!

Very many apologies for the silence on the blogging front - only I've been rather "done in" lately by a bout of food poisoning following a particulary innocent-looking Belgian Bun on Tuesday.

Hopefully will be back in harness tomorrow (Friday).

Chicken Caesar Salad - lovely when you get it right!

Chicken Caesar Salad - this is one of those dishes that has followed me down the years.

In the days when I worked at Hampton Court Palace, I can remember visiting Blubeckers in East Molesey with my friend Didaskalos (which was his online nickname and yes, he was a teacher) and eating Chicken Caesar Salad there.  I would choose the salad because I knew I would spend the whole lunchtime laughing - and it was the easiest thing to eat, in the circumstances.

Times change and things move on, to where I discovered that Sainsbury's were producing a Caesar Salad kit - and still are, to the best of my knowledge - which held the best Caesar dressing to be found.  I have no idea where they got it from, nor why they couldn't sell it in bottles, as every bottled Caesar dressing just didn't measure up.  I still have yet to find a bottled Caesar dressing that equates to Sainsbury's kit version.  The best one, so far, is Brianna's Homestyle Caesar Dressing - although it is just a tad too cheesy (I know, odd concept, eh?) for my liking.

For last night's Caesar Salad, however, I resolved to have a crack at making my own dressing.  You can imagine how much it had to live up to!  However, I am pleased to report that the dressing detailed below is not only better than Sainsbury's kit one, but it makes huge great lakes of the stuff (which is why you'll see our salad is a bit over-dressed) which bodes well for further salads in the week.

I was dubious about including the pinch of chilli flakes, about including greek yoghurt and about the raw garlic (knowing how prone I am to getting the garlic-itchies!).  The pinch of chilli flakes just appeared to amalgamate into the whole dressing experience somewhat seamlessly, but I fully expect if you don't include them - you'd notice it.  The greek yoghurt added to the creaminess but without making the dressing heavy.  I can imagine that seven tablespoons of mayonnaise would have been icky in the extreme.  As for the garlic - although there was garlic included in every inch of the salad, I escaped the garlic itchies!  There you are, you see - you just never know.

Another really good thing about making your own dressing is the anchovies.  Four for the dressing - and one for me.  Maybe another one for the dressing - and one for me.  Better have another one before I wrap the remainder in cling film, to put in the fridge.  Love anchovies!

The chicken was dealt with really simply.  I trimmed it up and put the three breasts into a bowl with lemon juice, thyme, salt & pepper and olive oil.  Onto a roasting tin and 25 minutes later in a hot oven, they're done.

Hubby was in charge of the croutons, as he'd made a loaf of bread especially with them in mind.  He sliced the bread thickly and rubbed it over with garlic.  Then removed the crusts and cut it into lovely big croutons.  Then into a bowl with dried herbs - chives, basil, oregano and thyme plus olive oil.  Toss out onto the oven tray and into a hot oven for 5 minutes, turn them over and sprinkle with salt, back in for another 5 minutes, turn and salt and back in for a final 5 minutes.  Out onto some kitchen paper to drain and bingo!  You've got your croutons.  Mmmmmn, I could have eaten them with a lovely glass of wine, never mind in the salad!

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD  (Serves 3 with extra dressing)

Ingredients for the chicken :

3 skinless boneless chicken breast fillets
1½ tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 garlic clove finely chopped.
 
Ingredients for the croutons :
 
3 slices white crusty bread
quarter tsp dried chives
half tsp dried basil
half tsp dried oregano
half tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Ingredients for the dressing :

1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
good pinch chilli flakes
5 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
3 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise (Hellman's is good)
4 tbsp plain greek yoghurt.

Ingredients for the salad :   

1 head Iceberg or Romaine/Cos lettuce (choice to suit you), leaves separated, washed and dried
25g piece Parmesan cheese, finely grated.

Method :

1.  Chicken :  place the juice, oil, thyme and garlic in a shallow dish. Add the chicken and turn it over in the marinade to coat well. Season with freshly ground pepper and leave for up to 2 hrs.

2.  Salad :  Keep any small inner lettuce leaves whole, tear the larger outer leaves into 2-3 pieces, then put them all into a large bowl full of ice cold water with 6-7 ice cubes.

3.  Croutons : Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

4.   Croutons : Slice, then cut the bread into big, rough cubes for the croutons. Then put into a bowl with the herbs plus pepper and olive oil.  Toss until completely covered, then out onto a baking tray and into the hot oven for 5 minutes, turn them over and sprinkle with salt, back in for another 5 minutes, turn and salt and back in for a final 5 minutes.  Out onto some kitchen paper to drain, and reserve.

5.  Chicken : Place the chicken onto a baking tray, then into the oven for 25-30 minutes.  When done, leave to cool slightly then slice.

6.    Dressing : Meanwhile, put the garlic into a mini blender with the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, chilli, anchovies, mayonnaise and yogurt, then blend until smooth - it should be the consistency of double cream. Adjust the taste with lemon juice and pepper. 

7.  Salad :  Drain the lettuce and spin to dry.  Place into a large bowl and pour just under half the dressing over the leaves.  Add the parmesan and carefully toss to coat - it's gentler to use your hands. Pile the leaves onto individual plates, tucking in the croutons and chicken. Drizzle the rest of the dressing over and around, then finish with an extra squeeze of lemon.

Serve.

Creamy Ham & Mushroom Pasta Bake

Anybody fancy any comfort food?

I've had this recipe in my "sounds nice" folder, just waiting for a moment when a) I fancied cooking it, and b) I thought everyone else might like it.  It would seem as though today was that day.

I start by assembling the ingredients.  I get them all out to begin with, to avoid having to walk around the kitchen, wearing myself out.  Because my particular disability causes me problems with standing for any length of time, I have what is called a "perching stool" which I drag around the kitchen.  This enables me to "perch" rather than sit and so makes standing back up to go and fetch something a lot easier.  So I carry the tray of ingredients  to my preparation space, where I chop everything that needs chopping.  Anything left over goes back into the fridge.

From there, I move to the cooker and start the cooking.  Fortunately, our cooker is very close to the sink, so I can move between the two without having to do much more than adjust the angle of the stool.

So here I am, The Incredible Bulk, on my stool, cooking  *sigh*

As a consequence, any recipe that involves "chop this : cook that : fry this : boil that : mix this in a bowl : fry this in another pan.. and so on" is not my best friend.  Hence I try to find recipes that I can do all the chopping in one go, that use the least amount of pots and pans - or at least, have a gap between the pots & pans - possibly while something oven bakes.  I can then do the washing up in the gap, which helps with clearing up afterwards.

Some recipes, however, I feel as though I've run a marathon by the time they're on the plate.  Cooking a dessert for eating immediately after the main course is like that.  By the time I've cooked the main course, I've had it where a dessert is concerned.  So any dessert I make has to be able to be produced in advance.

So this creamy ham & mushroom pasta bake was one of the easier ones.  It was a simple matter of dicing up the gammon, spring onions and mushrooms.  Then, while the bacon was cooking, grate the cheese for the sauce.  After that, it was all based in front of the cooker - with the requisite gap for washing up, while the bake did it's thing in the oven.  It didn't stop me from looking like a beetroot by the time it was baked, though!  Well, it was hot in that kitchen!

It's very definitely a comfort food option, in that the creamy cheese sauce goes so well with the gammon, mushrooms and pasta.  The spinach adds the impression that it's a little bit good for you, while the sweetcorn adds a little bit of crunch and interest.  Everyone enjoyed it - and everyone would have it again.  I served it with some dough balls, as I found them in the freezer - which I'm trying to empty a bit, prior to defrosting.  It'd be even nicer with a side salad, though.

CREAMY GAMMON & MUSHROOM PASTA BAKE (Serves 4)

Ingredients :

300g wholemeal fusilli pasta
30g butter
140g thickly cut gammon, diced  
4-5 chestnut mushrooms, halved
bunch spring onions, finely sliced
handful of baby spinach leaves, washed & drained
3 tbsp sweetcorn niblets
2 tbsp plain flour
500ml milk - have some more handy, just in case you need it
100g mature cheddar, grated
20g parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Method :  

1.  Prepare a large pan of salted boiling water and cook the pasta according to pack instructions, then drain and set aside.

2.  Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6, then melt a little butter in a deep frying pan and add the gammon.  Cook until beginning to brown, then decant into a large flat ovenproof dish.

3.  Add another small knob of butter and fry the mushrooms & spring onions for a couple of minutes, then scoop out and add to the gammon.

4.  Add the spinach and the sweetcorn to the oven dish and mix them through, to achieve a happy jumble.

5.  Melt the remaining butter in the frying pan, then add the flour.  Stir and cook for a minute, then gradually stir in the milk until you have a lump-free sauce. Increase the heat and bubble the sauce, stirring for a few minutes to thicken. Turn off the heat, stir in most of the cheese, then season to taste.

6.  Tip the pasta onto the happy mixture in the ovenproof dish, then pour over the sauce and mix well in the dish. Scatter over the remaining cheese then bake for 10-20 minutes until golden.

Serve.