Crockpot Chicken Casserole

The weather in Perth has been crap lately! Whilst bushfires and awful heat is raging on the East coast, here the warm weather just won’t properly start. We get a couple of warm days full of promise, in fact yesterday got quite warm, but the nights are still freeing and then the cold and rain comes back. It’s really been awful, and I am soooooo over wearing Winter clothes. I am hanging out for shorts and little Summer dresses! It is quite weird, as usually our heat has already started and the East is still getting the cold….not the other way around.

As with clothes, the weather is still making me feel like stews and soups, to go with being cosy inside listening to the rain pouring down (we had the wettest September here since 1930, and October has been wetter than normal too).

This warming comfort dish was not intended to be blog material…..I just threw the stuff in the crockpot thinking well it won’t be anything to write home about, but I’ll be at work all day and it will be great to come home to something cooked. No one to eat it but me, so if it’s not exciting it will still be nutritious and give me some leftovers as well.

I was pleasantly surprised! The chicken was tender and literally had fallen apart, so there is no need to cut it into chunks beforehand – just throw it all in. You could double it for a larger family meal too.

Chicken Casserole

600-700 gms skinless chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of any fat

400 gm can cream of celery soup

1/2 cup chicken stock

6 baby potatoes

2 carrots, peeled & cut into chunks

1 large brown onion, cut into wedges

1 large red chilli, finely chopped

cracked pepper, to taste

1 tbsp plain flour (use gluten-free cornflour if you are GF)

Place the chicken, potatoes and carrots in crockpot. Mix the soup, stock, onion, chilli and cracked pepper together in a bowl, and pour over the chicken.

Cook on LOW for 7 hours.

Blend the flour with a little cold water, into a smooth paste. Add this to the crockpot and give it a stir.

Cook for a further 1 hour.

Serves 3-4 depending on whether you serve it with side dishes or not.

Happy Fooding!

Cold Curing Cauli Consommé!

Well, not consommé exactly, but “soup” doesn’t start with a C!

I really hate Winter. With a passion. A big passion. My flat is freezing, and even with the heating on I have to sit with 2 pairs of socks on, a quilt on my lap and a hot water bottle under my feet, in order to feel warm enough to work on my embroidery. Thank goodness Winters here are very short. This 3 month period is a nightmare for me every year and I just can’t wait for Spring and shorts/bare feet weather to be here again!

I’ve got a cold at the moment, my second this Winter which is very annoying. This time it isn’t as bad as back in April (that was a real shocker, I even went to the doctor’s which is just not like me!), but still I’ve been needing to nurture myself a bit. I picked up a whole cauliflower very cheap so decided to make cauliflower soup – but in the past I’ve never been able to make one with decent flavour. I’ve made many variations and it’s always a bit bland and boring, so this time I just made it up as I went along and in order to cleanse my nostrils haha, I chucked in a teaspoon of chilli paste. Well, that did the trick. Spicy and flavoursome, and really good for clearing my head!

Cauliflower & Leek Soup

1/2 head of a large cauliflower, cut into big chunks

1 carrot, peeled & cut into chunks

1 leek, sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp chilli paste

1/4 cup white wine

4 cups chicken stock (use a vegetarian stock if you prefer)

2 tbsp soy sauce

cracked pepper, to taste

1/3 cup milk

chopped fresh parsley, to taste

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan and saute the cauliflower, carrot & leek until leek is softened – about 5 minutes.

Add thyme and chilli paste, stir to coat and saute for 1 minute.

Add wine, chicken stock, soy sauce and pepper. Bring to boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until vegies are cooked.

Remove saucepan from heat and blend the soup using a stick blender (or put in a food processor in batches, then return to saucepan).

Place back on low heat, add milk and parsley and slowly bring JUST to a simmer then turn heat off.

Serve with fresh bread and a glass of something bubbly (for medicinal purposes, of course….).

Serves 4.

Happy Winter Fooding!

Ye Olde Soupe!

I’ve been borrowing a lot of medieval cookbooks lately, through the library I work at, and also ploughing through websites and generally having a good old medieval surf! I was looking at the latest information about the gorgeous kitchens at Kew and Hampton Court Palaces (when I was at HCP a few years ago I saw the most enormous mortar & pestle, amazing), and I saw that they now have videos and recipes for a couple of authentic recipes from the Georgian and Tudor eras.

I made the Soupe Barley from the Kew kitchens page, as it seemed so easy but nourishing – barley’s such great Winter comfort food – mind you, it’s stinking hot here at this time of year so doesn’t really go with that, but oh well never mind. I’ll be over there in May and Kew Palace/Gardens is on my list as a place to visit this time, can’t wait.

The soup was very easy and tasted good. The inclusion of a few raisins I found quite interesting and it did add a bit of a sweet flavour, without being overpowering. I did add a little fresh thyme at the end as well, which seemed to me to go with the barley and also be in keeping with the era.

It was intended to be a starter, and I can well imagine how the Georgian upper classes must have felt SO full after eating an array of courses, if just the starter was as filling as this broth!

 

You can find the recipe here.

This week I also tried out a barley soda bread recipe from a cookbook I got last year, but it was a failure, so I’m not sharing it with you!

Happy Summer (or not) Fooding!

French Onion Lamb Shanks

Ready to go in the oven

This week I picked up a luscious looking 2-pack of lamb shanks, and thought I’d do them in the Continental cook-in-bag things that I have tried before. But…..when I went to the supermarket they didn’t have any of the pre-prepared bags in the lamb shank flavour that I used last time.

I decided to make up my own version. I placed the shanks in an oven bag along with 4 small, whole potatoes and 1 onion, cut into chunks. In a small bowl I whisked together a packet of dried French onion soup mix with about 1/2 a cup of white wine and 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary,chopped.

I simply poured the flavour mixture over the meat, closed up the bag, and baked at 180C for 1.5 hours.

Yum!

This made enough for 2, so I kept half for a leftovers meal the next night. I think next time I would cook it for a bit longer – 2 hours – to make the meat fall off the bones more easily.

(I served it with coleslaw – for no reason other than that I just felt like it!)

My Rice Cube arrived in the mail this week! I just have to find time to have a proper play with it…..

Happy Fooding!

Polenta-Topped Turkey (or Chicken!) Bake

This is supposed to be made with turkey, but I could only find turkey mince or drumsticks last week, so made it with chicken breast fillets instead. I don’t think it makes any difference to the taste really, so use whichever you prefer.

The topping used here makes a wonderful crust and could be used to top any casserole type dish, instead of the regular kind of dumpling or scone topping.

Polenta-Topped Turkey Bake

1 tbsp olive oil

1 brown onion, sliced

600 gms turkey breast (or chicken), cut into 3 cm cubes

4 small carrots, peeled & diced

1/2 cup frozen peas

410 gm can cream of asparagus soup

Topping:

3/4 cup plain flour, sifted

3/4 cup polenta

pinch of salt

2 tsp baking powder

60 gms butter

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and saute the onion and turkey until the meat is browned and the onion softened.

Mix in the carrots, peas, thyme and soup. Bring to a gentle boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon the turkey mixture into a deep pie/baking dish, and spoon the topping over it evenly. Bake in a 190C oven for 30 minutes or until the topping is cooked and golden.

To make the topping:

Mix flour, polenta, salt and baking powder together. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk egg and milk together and stir into flour mixture until well combined.

Serves 6

Happy Fooding!

Cuban Chicken

Something quite unusual for me, this recipe grabbed my attention because of the inclusion of banana. I am totally not into “sweet and sour” usually, or any sweet additions to meat dishes (like pineapple – ugh), except for prunes or dried apricots in a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern type dish ie lamb.

When I saw this chicken recipe (I totally love my RSS feed to Best Recipes – I get so many great recipes and ideas from this site), I thought hmmmm that sounds so easy and interesting. Wasn’t sure if I would like the addition of so much banana, but figured what the hell, let’s give it a go.

WELL, it was delicious!!! Super simple and quick, and the banana was subtle and not overwhelming. Definitely one to make again. Below is my version, almost the same as the original but slightly different quantities and using real garlic – I mean, what the heck is the point of “garlic powder” when you can use real crushed up stuff.

I served this with pearl couscous, which I’ve been wanting to try for a while as well – I use regular couscous a lot, especially for a quick-fix healthy salad for lunch – but had never cooked the large pearls. I followed this microwave version of how to cook it – and it was lovely – great as a substitute for rice or noodles with a chicken dish like this one.

Cuban Chicken

2 tbsp olive oil

6 chicken thigh fillets, chopped into large chunks

1 large brown onion, thinly sliced

1 pkt dried Spring Vegetable soup

1 cup orange juice

1 cup water

splash of light soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, crushed

cracked pepper, to taste

3 ripe bananas, cut into 2cm slices

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan; saute onion and chicken until browned. Add remaining ingredients except banana and bring to a simmer. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Add banana slices and cook for a further 2 minutes until banana is heated through.

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!

What To Do With A Ginormous Cabbage….

My lovely neighbour gave me a HUGE half cabbage the other week, after a visit to a local vegie market (along with some very juicy fresh lemons, carrots and roma tomatoes – lucky me). It sat in the fridge for a week and then started to go brown along the cut edge, so I knew I needed to do something with it without further delay.

After doing a bit of searching for something different, I ended up making this Scalloped Cabbage recipe from author Cherie Stihler‘s cabbage recipe pages.

I followed the recipe exactly, estimating the cabbage quantity as 1/3 of a large one (which could be more than a 10-ounce package I suspect but it worked out fine), and I used a large oval ovenproof dish with lid. It turned out very well and tasted great, quite oniony and creamy – although as you can tell from the pics, the dish REALLY got disgustingly dirty – thank goodness Robert Gordon pottery is so easy to scrub and always comes perfectly clean. I love that stuff so much.

This dish made enough for about 6 I reckon – so lots of leftovers for me, plus I still only used half of the half a cabbage – it really was that big! I made a bowl of coleslaw today for my lunch, and still have a bit of cabbage left!

Happy Fooding!

Crockpot Chicken

Well I moved house a week ago, but have had no proper Internet connection until now. I have my iPhone, with the WordPress app on it, but I don’t seem to be able to actually post anything that way. I also had no hot water for 4 days and still have a couple of minor problems waiting to be fixed, but the lack of wifi was my main concern!

As I mentioned, I did end up having Crust pizza on the evening of the move (see above – tandoori chicken with yoghurt drizzled on top, delicious), which actually did me for the next night as well. I love that pizza so much!

I am not completely unpacked yet, but the bulk of it is done. I am still manouevring my way around several large boxes in the middle of the floor though, as I don’t have room to put the things in them, so am just leaving some stuff packed up rather than have to repack it again in a year’s time when I will be moving again.

In the meantime it has been lovely finding old friends like my wok and bread machine, and of course my cookbooks. I was too tired to do much but collapse, for the first few days, especially as it was 38-40C for a few days in a row and there is no air conditioning (yet – it’s coming apparently) or pool where I am now. I have been working a lot and studying hard as well, but I finally felt back to normal a couple of days ago and decided to throw a few things in the crockpot for dinner when I came home from my day’s classes. I found an old “French chicken stew” recipe from years ago, and revamped it according to what I had in my (not yet restocked properly) pantry.

Coming home to the smell of something cooking is so divine!

Crockpot Chicken Stew

425 gm can cannellini beans, drained

2 cps chicken stock

6 chicken thigh fillets (skinless), cut into large chunks (you can use breast fillets, but they do dry out easily)

420 gm can tomato soup

3 small potatoes, roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled & diced

1 brown onion, roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp paprika

cracked pepper to taste

1 tsp cornflour (optional)

Place all ingredients in crockpot except cornflour; mix well, cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

A couple of hours before you are ready to eat, mix the cornflour to a paste with a little cold water; add to the crockpot and mix through, to thicken.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!

Tomato & Lentil Soup

This simple soup is sure to become a family favourite, and it is light and refreshing enough to be served in Summer as well as cold Wintery days.

Tomato & Lentil Soup

1 tbsp olive oil

4 carrots, peeled & chopped

2 leeks, washed & sliced

2 medium brown onions, peeled & chopped

200 gms dried red lentils

1.5 litres (6 cups) vegetable stock

2 x 425 gm cans diced tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp worcestershire sauce

cracked pepper, to taste

Heat oil in large saucepan; add carrots, leeks and onions. Saute for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Blend with hand-held blender (or blend in batches in a food processor). Reheat and serve.

Serves 6.

Happy Fooding!

Cookery The Australian Way…..Chow Mein

Yesterday I attended the first day of a Temari workshop, with the lovely and VERY talented Rebecca, aka Temari Addict.  As I have just completed my first two days of “industry placement” for my Diploma course, I am very tired at the moment, but once my brain woke up properly I really got into making my Interlocked Mitsubane Temari – in fact I finished it by the end of the day:

(some of my other temari are in the background)

I’m not that happy with the pale green marking lines showing and am thinking of adding something metallic in spots to detract from them.  Bit of thought required on that still.  Today we will be doing another different one, can’t remember the name of the pattern but it is uber-gorgeous so am looking forward to that.

But I digress….so back to FOOD now…

When I did Home Economics in Year 7, back in the dark ages of 1979 (!), we used Cookery the Australian Way as our “bible”.  I still have my worn out copy, half covered in clear plastic book covering, all tatty and food-stained, with a falling-apart spine and odd recipes handwritten in the notes section at the back.

I must start transferring all of my regular recipes into my Recipe Manager, because one of these days my poor old friend is going to give up the ghost and go to the great cookbook shelf in the sky!

This Chow Mein is adapted from said book, although I have altered it a bit to make it a bit more current over the years – for example, because in 1979 Australian households were not very adventurous with spices or international cuisine lol, 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder is all that is in the original!  This wouldn’t add any flavour at all so I have increased it, as well as made other things in larger quantities – 375 grams of minced beef does NOT serve 6 people, no matter what way you look at it!!

Interestingly, the definition of Chow Mein (“stir fried noodles”) is totally NOT what is in this recipe – it fits more closely to Chop Suey than anything else.  Again, I put this error of title down to the Australian home economists (and households) of the 1960s (when the book was first published) not really having a wide understanding of Asian and Oriental foods/origins.

Call it what you will, this is yummy and easy!

Chow Mein

600 gms minced beef (low-fat preferably)

1 pkt dried chicken noodle soup

1 1/2 cups hot water

1/4 cup rice, uncooked

2 stalks celery, finely sliced

1 large brown onion, sliced

1/4-1/2 cabbage (depending on size), finely shredded

2 cups green beans, chopped into 3cm pieces

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

cracked pepper, to taste

Place meat, soup mix and hot water in a large saucepan.  Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the rice and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add all other ingredients; stir until boiling and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom (add a little extra water if needed).

Serves 4.

Happy Fooding!