Garlic Chicken

This is a family favourite and is so easy to prepare.

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs  ( I used deboned chicken breasts)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

about 5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 onion finely chopped

half a punnet of mushrooms, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon of parsley

2 teaspoons mixed herbs

1 teaspoon flour (optional)

Directions

Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Salt and pepper liberally and allow to temper on a cutting board while you prepare the garlic.

In a large ovenproof saute pan over medium heat, cook the onions, mushrooms and garlic in olive oil and butter, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 10 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium high and brown the chicken  until it is golden brown , about 5 minutes.

Turn the chicken over, sprinkle on herbs.

Turn  the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes until soft.

The sauce can be thickened if needed.

Serve it with rice  and veggies.

Sunday’s High Tea

We celebrated my sister’s BIG birthday with a high tea.

I made the flower arrangement in a teapot to enhance the theme.

I decided to use the  Edmond’s Scones recipe for this occasion and it  was served with the lemon curd and cream.

Related articles

• Scones (nowathome.wordpress.com)
• Lemon curd (nowathome.wordpress.com)

Day 3: Scone challenge

Scones!

I got this traditional Kiwi recipe for scones from my daughter in law :

3 cups self raising flour

1 cup cream

1 cup lemonade (can use diet or almost flat lemonade too)

… pinch of salt.

Mix lightly, press out onto floured surface until about 1 inch thick.

Cut and bake at 220 for approx 12-15 mins, depending on size.

Serve with jam and cream.

That’s the basic recipe but you can  add all sorts of things like: Bacon, onions, cheese and a pinch of curry OR Cheese, sundried tomatoes and herbs OR raisins and cinnamon etc.

In the case of savoury ones I would press out the dough and instead of cutting into circles, just cut squares and then cut those into triangles and bake. Gives you a different shape and serve them piping hot with butter.

My husband loved doing the tasting,  but my biggest problem is  to decide which of the 3 recipes I am going to use for Sunday!

Related articles

• It’s a scone off! (createbakemake.com)

Day 2 : Scone challenge

Today’s Scone recipe I got from a friend.  I am quite happy with the results!

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour, sifted
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup milk

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degree C. Combine flour, baking powder and a salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, whisk egg, oil and milk in a jug. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined (the less you work the dough, the better), adding a little more milk if required.
2. Turn dough onto a floured board and pat out until 2 cm thick. Fold the dough in half and cut out scones. Place on baking tray, allowing a little room for spreading. Bake scones for 10 minutes or until risen and light brown. Serve scones hot with butter and jam.

Scones

• A scone is a single-serving cake or quick bread. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and are baked on sheet pans. They are often lightly sweetened and are occasionally glazed. Wikipedia

Baking scones is a bit of a nemesis to me!  I never get them to rise enough or they leave an aftertaste in the mouth or they are just not perfect! My sister asked me to make her some scones for her birthday high tea on Sunday and oh boy the pressure is on.  I’ve have tried the Edmond Scone recipe today and the results were not to bad at all. But I am not quite satisfied yet! So here goes! The challenge is on!

Edmonds Scones

This is the classic NZ recipe from the Edmonds cookbook.

Ingredients

3 cups plain flour

6 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

75 g butter

1 -1 1/2 cup milk

extra milk

Directions

1 Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

2 Cut butter in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3 Add milk and mix quickly with a knife to a soft dough.
4 Knead a few times.
5 Lightly dust an oven tray with flour.
6 Press scone dough out onto this.
7 Cut into 12 even-sized pieces.
8 Leave a 2 cm space between scones.
9 Brush tops with milk.
10 Bake at 220 C for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Lemon curd

• Fruit curd is a dessert spread and topping usually made with lemon, lime, orange or raspberry. Specific types of fruit curd are named after the central curd in them – for example, that made with lemons is known as “lemon curd”. Wikipedia
  I have made this in the microwave.

  Ingredients

  200 ml white sugar

  3 egg yolks

  75 ml lemon juice

  5ml lemon zest

  75 ml butter

   

  

  Directions

  1. In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the microwave, and pour into small sterile jars. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.
  2. I served it with freshly baked scones.

  

Pumpkin Fritters

My sister  blogged this recipe a while ago on http://flippenblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/roast-lamb-and-farewell-lunches/ how to make Pumpkin Fritters with a creamy caramel sauce. I used some leftover Butternut.

I served it grilled chicken and a salad.

What a lovely Sunday lunch!