Chicken in Saffron Stew {Weekend Cookbook}

Don’t be put off by the word “Stew”, this is a really yummy meal that I have often cooked for dinner guests. It takes a while to cook, but if you are organised enough you can have it cooking while you prepare the house/dessert/children for your dinner guests.

I like to serve it with rice and green beans and I try to make sure there is some crusty bread to mop up the delicious stew at the end.

Chicken in Saffron Stew (Serves 4)

60ml Olive oil

1/3 cup blanched almonds

1 thick slice of bread, crusts removed and cut into pieces

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of saffron threads

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of chopped, flat leaved parsley

4 -6 chicken thighs

4-6 chicken drumsticks

2brown onions, finely chopped

125ml (1/2 cup) fino sherry (I use normal sherry)

1 ½ cups of chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 thyme sprigs

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 egg yolks

1.      Heat a tablespoon of the oil and fry the almonds and bread in a fry pan until golden, then place aside on paper towel to cool. Using a mortar and pestle or food processer add the bread, almonds, cinnamon, garlic, saffron and half the parsley and grind to a crumbly consistency.

2.       Heat the remaining oil and brown the chicken, then remove from the pan. Cook the onions gently until they are soft.

3.      Using a large saucepan or stovetop casserole dish, add the chicken, onion, sherry, stock, bay leaf and thyme and simmer for 1 hour, or until the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken piece and cover to keep warm. Add the almond paste to the saucepan and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice egg yolks, and remaining parsley. Return to the stove on a very low heat until slightly thickened (don’t boil or it will separate). Season to taste, then return the chicken pieces and gently warm through.

 What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
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4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 
5. Add the Weekend Cookbook button to your post/blog (it is on my sidebar).

Weekend Cookbook: Creamy Salmon Pies

Our family loves to eat salmon. We enjoy it as it is a really easy fish to eat, and there are so many different ways you can cook it. We buy a massive slab of it from Costco and freeze it in meal sized portions so that we can eat it around once a week.

The recipe that I have for you today is a family favourite. We found it in a cooking magazine and have loved it ever since. My hubby particularly loves the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese combination.

Creamy Salmon Pies

Serves 4

Olive oil spray

½ cup fresh breadcrumbs

1/3 cup finely grated parmesan

20g butter

1 tbls olive oil

1 leek, thinly sliced

2 tbls plain flour

½ cups of chicken stock

1/3 cup thickened cream

1 tsp dried tarragon leaves

500g skinless salmon fillets, cut into small pieces

1.      Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Spray four ramekins with the olive oil spray to grease. Combine the breadcrumbs and the parmesan cheese.

2.      Heat butter and oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and cook, stirring for 3 minutes or until leek softens slightly. Add flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add the stock, whisking until combined. Cook stirring for 5 minutes or until the mixture comes to the boil. Add cream and tarragon and cook stirring for 2 minutes or until the mixture thickens.

3.      Add the salmon and cook, stirring for 2 minutes or until salmon is cooked through. Spoon into the prepared dishes. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden.

4.      Serve with mash potato and steamed green vegetables.

What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
3. Share some love by checking out the other links and leave a comment. 
4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 
5. Add the Weekend Cookbook button to your post/blog (it is on my sidebar).

Weekend Cookbook: Never Buy Pizza Bases Again!!

We have recently discovered how easy it is to make your own pizza bases. Well, I actually discovered this a while ago but my husband was never really keen on it until he attended a pizza making demonstration as part of a men's get together at our church.

He came home with a stack of left overs and the desire to make pizza bases from scratch.

I was excited for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I love pizza and would happily eat it every week and secondly he was keen to be our pizza chef.

If you think it is hard, it isn't! Give this recipe a go and I am sure you will change your mind

Homemade Pizza Base (makes two pizza tray sized bases)

Complete with homemade mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon of dry yeast

1 teaspoon of caster sugar

1 cup (250ml) of lukewarm water

2 1/2 cups (375g) of 00 flour or plain flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1. Combine the yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl and set aside for 5 mins until bubby.

2. Combine flour, salt and olive oil in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and mix with your hands to form a dough.

3. Knead dough for 3-4 minutes on the bench until it is nice and smooth and elastic and divide into two balls.

4. Place under a clean damp cloth and set aside for 30 mins until they have doubled in size.

5. When risen, flatten and roll out into your desired shape (circle, square, star ;-) whatever works for you).

6. Top with your desired toppings and bake in a 220 degree oven for 15-20 mins.

Top Topping Tips:

• Order of toppings is important start with pizza sauce, then add cheese.
• Next put things that burn quickly (basil, semi dried tomatoes).
• Then add meats, then vegetables, then extra cheese and other sauces.
• For a professional chef style pizza top with dried  oregano. 
• NEVER add pineapple to your pizza... :) that's not a real tip. I just think fruit on pizza is weird!)

Do you make your own pizza bases? What is your favourite topping?

  

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
3. Share some love by checking out the other links and leave a comment. 

4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 

5. Add the Weekend Cookbook button to your post/blog (it is on my sidebar).

Weekend Cookbook: Slow Cooker Corned Beef

This is one of my favourite slow cooker recipes. I love any meat cooked in the slow cooker but corned beef is the tastiest. Sadly my hubby does not share my love of corned beef but the kids love it so he will put up with it every now and then.

It is also a cheap roast to buy and the left overs are great for another meal or for sandwiches.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef with Vegetables (serves 6)  

1 large brown onion, coarsely chopped 

2 large carrots, peeled, cut into 3cm pieces 

1.5kg corned beef 

500g golden delight potatoes, peeled, cut into 5cm pieces 

2 dried bay leaves 

10 whole black peppercorns 

3 whole cloves 

2 tablespoons brown sugar 

1/2 cup cider vinegar 

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to serve 

Mustard sauce

50g butter 

2 tablespoons plain flour 

2 cups milk 

2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
 
Turn slow cooker on low. Add onion and carrot. Top with beef. Place potato around beef. Add bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, sugar and vinegar. Add 1.5 litres warm water (enough to cover beef). Cook for 8 hours or until beef is tender.

Make sauce Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until bubbling. Remove from heat. Stir in milk until combined. Return to heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in mustard.

Remove beef and vegetables from cooker. Discard bay leaves, cloves and peppercorns. Slice beef. Serve with mustard sauce, vegetables and parsley.


What have you been cooking this week?

 

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
3. Share some love by checking out the other links and leave a comment. 

4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 

5. Add the Weekend Cookbook button to your post/blog (it is on my sidebar).

Weekend Cookbook: Guest Post: A Bit of Everything Risotto

  Today I have coerced another of my friends to guest post for me as I have been moving this week. I am looking forward to cooking up some more wonderful recipes from my new kitchen in the very near future (when the benches are not covered in boxes). Thanks to Sami for posting this recipe for me.

When I was living at home, the first dinner recipe Mum asked me to cook was Vegetable Risotto. I am not sure where the recipe came from and I think all it had in it was sweet potato and vegetable stock. It quickly became my staple contribution to family meals and that didn’t change when I got married. One thing did change though, I got a bit creative. You can take or leave most of the ingredients in this recipe and quantities are not that important; the more the better really.

You definitely go away full after this Risotto! 

A Bit of Everything Risotto

 Serves: 4-5

Time: 40 minutes 

Ingredients

* 1 cup baby spinach

* 250g button mushrooms, sliced

* Balsamic vinegar

* Mixed herbs

* Bacon, diced

* Chorizo (optional), sliced

* 1 large sweet potato, cubed (approx 2cm square)

* 1 brown onion, diced

* Vegetable oil

* 1 cup Arborio rice

* 1litre chicken stock (or vegetable)

* ½ cup parmesan, grated

* Extra parmesan and black pepper to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°

2. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and mixed herbs over mushrooms and baby spinach. Leave to rest.

3. Bake sweet potato for 20 minutes (or until cooked through). Turn halfway.

4. Cook bacon and chorizo. Set aside.

5. Cook mushrooms and baby spinach in their liquid. Set aside.

6. Cook onion in vegetable oil until brown.

7. Add Arborio rice and stir on medium until coated in oil.

8. Add chicken stock to rice, ¼ cup at a time. Wait until all liquid has been absorbed before adding more. (You may need more or less stock depending on what you’re cooking in, the temperature and brand of rice). Stir continuously. 

9. Once rice is cooked (make sure there are no crunchy bits inside) add mushrooms, spinach, bacon, chorizo and sweet potato, combine until warmed through.

10. Add ½ cup of parmesan, stir through. 

11. Serve with extra parmesan and pepper.

Freezes and reheats fabulously too! 

Sami is wife to a wonderful husband of 19 months as well as an oldest sister and daughter. She loves her kitten, cooking, knitting, Scottish Highland dancing and teaching. Sami recently launched her Teacher Blog; Teacher On Training Wheels and is excited to become a part of the blogging community.

Weekend Cookbook: Guest Post: Deconstructed Moroccan Chicken Pie with Sumac Yoghurt

Last Thursday night, my husband and I cooked up a recipe for Deconstructed Moroccan chicken pie with Sumac yoghurt. I jokingly put a photo up on facebook, because although it tasted fantastic it wasn't a beautiful dish. However, Lisa called my bluff and asked me to share the recipe on this blog. I was going to say no, but then I remembered that commandment in the bible "Thou shalt honour thy minister's wife's blog"

If you haven't cooked with Sumac before, it's a sour-tangy spice with a vibrant purple colour. I was introduced to it by a Saudi Arabian friend and workmate. She invited a bunch of workmates over to her place to eat a home-cooked banquet. After I gushed about the food she gifted me with a whole kilo of Sumac from her pantry! Obviously I'm still going through my kilo, so I am not sure how easy it is to find in supermarkets, but any oriental grocer or spice shop will carry it.

The original recipe makes this into a pie, but I decided to instead cook some pastry separately and serve it on the side. This way, the meal is ready earlier and I could control how much pastry I wanted to eat.

Deconstructed Moroccan chicken pie with Sumac yoghurt
(based on Moroccan chicken pie in Weightwatchers' Food you'll Love recipe book, available at supermarkets)

olive oil
500g chicken thigh fillets, cubed
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/3 cup dried apricots
400g can diced tomatoes
500g sweet potato, cubed
1 sheet puff pastry
1/2 cup low-fat natural/greek yoghurt
1 tsp sumac
fresh coriander

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Thaw sheet of puff pastry on the bench.

2. Heat oil in frying pan over high heat. Add chicken and cook in batches until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Add a dash of oil and cook onion, stirring frequently, until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin and coriander and stir for 1 minute.

3. Add chicken back to the pan with apricots, tomatoes and sweet potato. Add just enough water to cover (about 200ml). Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until potato is tender. 

4.While the chicken is simmering, cut the puff pastry into approx 2cm x 10cm strips. Place the strips on a cookie tray lined with baking paper, and twist the strips once over to create a curve in the middle. sprinkle with a little sumac, and place in the oven for 10 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and just starting to brown.

5. Sprinkle sumac over the yoghurt. Serve the 'pie' garnished with coriander leaves, with sumac yoghurt and pastry strips on the side.

This was a really tasty and easy pie, and we'll definitely be adding it to our high rotation list. You could also add a can of chickpeas, either to bulk out the meal or replace the chicken if you're vegetarian. If you have kids, it would be fun to use the strips to make their first initials.

Kath is a grew up in Hobart, Tasmania. She met a guy called Matt in high school, and married him in 2008. She loves live music, handmade crafts, and fresh coffee. She has an honours degree in medical research that doesn't get used much. Matt and Kath moved to Canberra in 2011 where she is slowly learning to follow the politics and the roundabouts 

What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines:

1. Link up a recipe that you have posted (it doesn't have to be a new post).
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
2. Follow Mummy Undeserved Blessings on facebook 
3. Check out the other links and leave a comment.
4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 

 

Weekend Cookbook: Really Easy Chicken & Mushroom Pies

A good friend of mine had some fairly major surgery this week so I wanted to cook their family something that was easy to reheat and something that their kids would eat too.

I was going to cook up a big pie but instead I remembered....the dinosaur. It doesn't look like an actual dinosaur but it sure is as old as one. This wonderful appliance is something that many people have and that most people no longer use. It is a pie maker!

The dinosaur!

My husband brought this into our marriage. He thinks it is from his uni days. It is so old that it even has a fabric cord. But it still works fantastically and makes all sorts of pies, really easily.

I chose to make a chicken and mushroom pie. It can be made in the pie maker, or just as easily in the oven.

Chicken & Mushroom Pie

(makes 4 pies)

2 sheets of puff pastry

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 leek, sliced

125g mushrooms

250g of chicken breast, diced

1 tablespoon of flour

40g of butter

1 cup of chicken stock

1 tablespoon of cream

Thyme or other fresh herbs

 salt and pepper to taste

1. Get your pie maker out or preheat oven to 180 degrees

2. Heat the olive oil in a large frypan and brown the chicken, then transfer to a plate.

3. Heat half the butter with a little extra olive oil and cook the leek until it is soft. Add mushrooms and stir until cooked through. Remove and transfer to a plate.

adding oil to the butter helps the butter not to burn

4.Add more butter to fry pan then add flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the chicken stock stirring continuously. Return the leek mixture and chicken to the pan and add the herbs and cream.

5. Meanwhile, cut pastry into circles larger for base and smaller for lid (or line a pin tin with pastry and cut a lid to size.

6. Fill pastry cases with filling and cook for 5 mins in the pie maker or 20 -30 minutes in the oven or until pastry is cooked. 

What have  you been cooking this week?

 
Weekend Cookbook Guidelines:

1. Link up a recipe that you have posted (it doesn't have to be a new post).
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
2. Follow Mummy Undeserved Blessings on facebook 
3. Check out the other links and leave a comment.
4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 

Weekend Cookbook: Quiche Lorraine

I have been thinking lately that food is such a wonderful blessing from God. He could have made us without smell and tastebuds and food would just be an energy source. Instead,  He made food and eating a pleasurable experience and also a way for families and friends to come together. 

As I have said before I love to cook, and I use my cooking as a form of showing love to people. Today's recipe is one that I recently discovered and have decided to make regularly to give to others. Our church has a freezer stocked with meals that we distribute to people within our church (and those outside our church who need it) when they need a break from cooking. It might be due to a new baby, illness in the family or when people are just overwhelmed with things in their life. This is a great freezable recipe that I can stock up the church's freezer with and also make for my family.

QUICHE LORRAINE

Shortcrust Pastry

Use frozen sheets or make it yourself with this recipe

250g plain flour

large pinch of salt

1 egg yolk

125g unsalted butter, chopped and softened

50ml cold water

Step 1: Sift flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Ass egg yolk, butter and water and mix with your fingertips until a dough forms

Step 2: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until just combined. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour prior to using.

-makes enough for one 30cm tart tin or two 20cm tart tins

Quiche Lorraine

1/2 quantity of short crust pastry

plain flour, for dusting

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 rashers of bacon cut into small pieces

1 egg

1 egg yolk

100ml milk

100ml pouring cream

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

50g of Gruyere cheese grated (or normal cheese would work)

Step 1: Roll out pastry and line a 20cm tin or quiche dish. Trim excess pastry. Place in fridge for 30 mins

Step 2: Preheat oven to 190 degrees

Step 3: Line pastry with baking paper and fill with uncooked rice or baking beans and bake for 15 mins. Remove the rice and baking paper and place back in the oven for 5 mins with temp lowered to 180 degrees. Remove when pastry is dry and light golden and leave to cool.

Step 4: Meanwhile cook the bacon in the oil and drain on paper towel.

Step 5: Place egg, yolk, milk, cream, nutmeg and salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine. Stir in cheese and ham, then pour into pastry shell and bake for 20 mins or until just set.

One for me one for church freezer

This recipe make a fairly small quiche which serves 2 for a dinner and or more for a lighter lunch.

What have you been cooking this week? Link up your recipes if you have a blog. 

If you create on of the Weekend Cookbook recipes please take a picture and post it on the Mummys Undeserved Blessings facebook wall.

 

Weekend Cookbook: Dumplings, Pork Belly & Creme Brulee

Need some inspiration for your cooking this weekend? A friend and I have recently decided to start cooking together to try out new recipes and I thought it would be a great idea to share what we cooked with you all. I also know there are so many other bloggers out there who share great recipes so I thought what better way to be inspired for weekend cooking than a blog link up with delicious recipes we have tried during the week. I am calling it "Weekend Cookbook" and hopefully we can start linking up and sharing our favourite recipes every Friday. So if you are a blogger please link up your recipe (or three course menu!) for the week on a Friday and we can have a collection of yummy ideas to try over the weekend. 

The recipes my friend and I cooked last weekend were Asian themed (except for the dessert). We were secretly pretending that we were on My Kitchen Rules and made up the menu plan in advance and created an instant restaurant for our husbands. These were the recipes we tried:

Dumplings with Red Chinese Vinegar and Ginger

This was a MKR recipe and can be found at:

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/my-kitchen-rules/recipes/recipe/-/13126594/dumplings-with-red-chinese-vinegar-and-ginger/ 

We were unable to get the Chinese red vinegar but found a rice vinegar substitute which seemed to work. Sadly we are not expert dumpling makers so they were a bit ugly and thick but the filling was really yummy and on the whole they were really nice.

Pork Belly with Caramel Dressing

This recipe was from Taste.com.au and can be found at:

 http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/26038/pork+belly+with+caramel+dressing

The pork belly was delicious and the caramel dressing worked really well with the meat and herbs. We also had some asian greens and rice to go along with it. Unfortunately the two tablespoons of salt on the crackling which the recipes said to add made it way too salty and overpowered the sauce

Creme Brulee

This was a Masterchef recipe and can be found at:

http://www.masterchef.com.au/recipes/crme-brulee.htm 

Unfortunately for our dinner party this was our least successful as the brulee failed to set and it was very runny. It still tasted delicious though. It may have been my oven was not hot enough as we had it in for longer than the recommended time. We have decided to keep cooking it until we get it right so it will feature at our next cooking night.

So hopefully that has inspired you for some weekend cooking. I highly recommend the Pork Belly. Both Coles and Woolworths sell it and it is surprisingly not too expensive (approx $13 kg). 

Since this is our first link up please feel free to link a recipe you have posted in the past. Link up, check out each others recipes and make some comments. I would love to hear how your weekend cooking goes.