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Matt Preston’s Cola Baked Sticky Chicken

13 May 2013 in Cheap and cheerful, Easy to prepare, Economical

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I’m a big fan of  Masterchef Australia, even if we are only viewing the 2011 series, I much prefer it to the British version.  I ensure that we are parked in front of the tv with our dinner trays on our laps by 6pm promtly Monday – Thursday.

This is Matt Preston’s recipe that I found on the Masterchef site, apparently he has a cookbook coming out soon.  He is a curious looking man, however I find myself strangely attracted to him.  I mean, he wears the oddest clothes and those cowboys boots…well! *shakes head*

I had an issue with the timing as my oven is not the fan type and after two hours the sauce wasn’t thickening so I decided to up the temperature to 175c and that seemed to do the trick.

I used (skinned) chicken drummettes instead of wings and decided to marinade them overnight in the sauce, Matt doesn’t do that. I’ve no idea if it made them better than Matt’s as I’ve never used the recipe before, all I know is that they were tender and completely delicious.

 

750ml Cola

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 cloves garlic grated

1 large brown onion grated

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1kg chicken wings cut at the joint

Juice of one lemon

Preheat oven to 140c fan forced (I think they mean thermofan)

Arrange chicken in a single layer in a deep oven tray and pour over the cola mixture.

Bake for 3 – 3.5 hours or until sauce is thick and very sticky. ( I did 2 hours @140 and then 1.5 hours @ 175)

 

 

 

 

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Sweet Potato and Banana Bake

8 May 2013 in Cheap and cheerful, Easy to prepare, Economical, Vegetarian

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I based this recipe on one in a very old cookery book called Be Bold With Bananas which was produced by the Banana Control Board way back in the *mumbles*. Now I know you are thinking ‘”this bird has a thing about sweet potatoes’” and you would be right, I love them and they are plentiful at the moment.

However, be very thankful I cooked the bake, I was sorely tempted by this photo…not! Food styling has come a long way hey? *sniggers*

I mean the banana thingy is phallic enough, but no, they reinforce the inference with a candle in the background…bold indeed! :)

Anyway, back to my side dish, yes it is sweet, and fattening, but it was delicious served with a simple grilled pork chop and some wilted spinach, so it balanced out…right?

This would also go down well at a braai.

100ml sugar

2 TBS butter

250ml orange juice

125 ml water + -

125 ml raisins/sultanas

500g orange sweet potatoes peeled and sliced

1/2 tsp salt

2 bananas peeled and sliced

breadcrumbs – optional

grated Parmesan cheese – optional

Preheat your oven to 180 c

Melt the butter in saucepan, add the orange juice and the sugar and heat to dissolve the sugar.

Add the raisins and  potatoes with enough water to just cover them, cook until tender.

Add the salt and the bananas for about a minute.

Grease or spray your dish, place a layer of sweet potatoes, then the bananas, then another layer of potatoes, try and make sure all the raisins are underneath so they don’t burn.

Reduce the remaining liquid in the pan over a high heat until it is thick and syrupy, pour over the potatoes

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Parmesan.

Cover with foil or a lid and bake for 15 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes to crisp and brown the top.

If you also love sweet potatoes, you might like my previous post, sweet potato mash Irish style, click on the photo to be taken to the recipe.

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Sweet Potato Mash – Irish Style

2 May 2013 in Cheap and cheerful, Easy to prepare, Vegetarian

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I don’t like potatoes much…I can hear the incredulous gasps! I will probably eat one roast potato with a roast and a couple of chips with a steak, but I’d rather have an extra veg truth be known. I feel the same way about rice, unless it’s got all kinds of goodies in it I will pass, now pasta that’s another story all together, it’s the one starch I really like.

I do like sweet potatoes though and the addition of the cabbage and spring onions was really enjoyable. My apologies to the Irish for bastardising their national dish Colcannon.

750g  orange sweet potatoes

200g piece of cabbage shredded very thinly

1 cup spring onions chopped

30g butter

salt and white pepper

Peel the potatoes, slice them into even pieces and boil in salted water until tender.

Drain the potatoes really well.

Mash half the butter into the potatoes (I use a potato ricer to avoid any lumps) and put aside.

Melt the remaining 15g of butter in a frying pan and stir fry the cabbage until soft, don’t overcook it, you want a bit of crunch.

Stir in the spring onions.

Add to the potatoes, combine and season to your taste.

If you would prefer this delicious Italian Onion Mash pictured below then click here

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My Version of Pronto Mama’s Slow Roasted Tomatoes in a Spicy Vinaigrette

1 April 2013 in Easy to prepare, Economical, Jams & Preserves, Uncategorized, Vegetarian

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“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”

There is a range of sauces by Pronto Mama that are simply delicious, sadly they don’t appear to be available here in Natal. So when every baby tomato plant opted to ripen all-of-a-sardine I decided to attempt  to replicate their Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes in a Spicy Vinaigrette with Rosemary.

The label clearly states what is used in the preparation but them dastardly devious folk refrain from telling you exactly what herbs and spices were used! :)

This is not a recipe as such, it’s just wot I done innit……

I sliced my cherry tomatoes in half, roughly chopped some red pepper, chucked in an unpeeled clove of garlic, drizzled everything with olive oil, sprinkled with sugar, salt and pepper and few tiny sprigs of rosemary.

Then I slowly roasted them for 2 hours @ 95c

(discard the blackened rosemary after cooking)

Next step was the vinaigrette, which as long as you stick to the base of 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar you can add anything you like.

I used:

150 oil

50 vinegar

1/4 tsp mustard powder

2 tsp my homemade chilli jam or you could use fresh chilli (to your taste)

1 tsp honey

1 clove garlic cooked and crushed

1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped

Whisk everything together, season to taste and set aside.

Chop half a small onion and some olives.

Pack the cooked tomatoes, onion and olives into clean jars and top with the vinaigrette, cover with lids and leave to steep for a couple of weeks.

Did I achieve the same delightful taste of Pronto Mama? of course not, but I was very pleased with what evolved. It’s especially good  on pizza or bruschetta, great as part of a  mezze platter or with pasta, the uses are endless. Once you have used all the filling, the oil that remains makes a wonderful salad dressing.

I was not remunerated for writing this post in any way and I do hope the good people at Pronto Mama will forgive me for even thinking I could re-create their product……but you can’t blame a girl for trying! :)

 I topped this Easy Cheese Slice with a dollop and it was really lekker (South African for really good)

 

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Green Fingers?

8 November 2012 in Vegetarian

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Whenever I am in England I buy cress, it’s lovely in sarmies & salads and has a distinct peppery taste.  I’ve never understood why it’s not available here and we will completely gloss-over how the seeds found their way to our shores!

Back in 2011 I sowed some of the seeds with very poor results, my surname might be Green but clearly the fingers aren’t! I put the remaining seeds in a drawer and forgot about them until last week. This time I used a seedling-mix soil, made sure it was very damp and scattered the seeds on top. I used small spay bottle to water them and left them on the kitchen windowsill.

The next morning you could see little growths which was encouraging and I made sure I keep them well watered.

Day 3.

Day 4 was even more exciting! Obviously having deep and meaningful conversations with the cress worked.

Day 5

Day 6

Yes, I did bring a tin of Spam back for Himself, and he enjoyed it too. I thought it would be fun to grow my cress in the tin. Pity we chowed it all, I’m sure the addition of some cress would have lifted the Spam to new culinary heights! :)

In the meantime here is a classic British sandwich, egg & cress, watch out Alan Titchmarsh…..

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In My Kitchen – November 2012

1 November 2012 in In My Kitchen

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Celia of the blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial started this monthly initiative, to see more of what food bloggers from around the world have in their kitchens click here.

In my kitchen….

…is this jar of pickled onions that I made at the end of September, I think we shall give them a try this weekend with some nice mature cheddar and crusty bread, sometimes the simple things in life are just the best!

In my Kitchen…

…is an abundance of HP, I bought Himself the big bottle of sauce back from England and whilst I was there my Godfather gave me the recipe book as a gift, expect to see a recipe from it soon.

In my kitchen….

…are these cute poaching bags that I just had to try, they work, but you need asbestos hands to get the egg out and the triangular shape is a bit odd.

In my kitchen…

…is this bag of macadamia nuts that I thought were a bargain, I have made something rather yummy with some of them, stay tuned.

In my kitchen…

…is this rectangular tart tin, I’ve wanted one for ages but they are rather pricey here in South Africa and I couldn’t justify buying one as I have a perfectly good round one. This one was reasonable in England so I treated myself.

In my kitchen…

…is this rather cool silicone mat which I used to make this lovely old fashioned Cream Swiss Roll. I also want to use it to make a neater  Pavlova Roll.

 Click here to be taken to the Swiss Roll recipe.

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Pear, Blue Cheese and Nut Pate

26 September 2012 in Easy to prepare, Vegetarian

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Mud Island is not loving me, the weather is cold and wet! :(

Above is the local farm shop, which is just down the road from my parents house, it stocks nice interesting veggies and has a deli and a little restaurant which apparently is very good. Whilst browsing in the deli I saw they had Pear and Stilton Pate and after a quick look at the ingredients I decided to have a go as Mum and Dad’s pear tree is laden.

2 fresh pears poached (I poached both but only used one and a half)

3 cups (750 ml) water

1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar

A little lemon juice

3 tsp (45 ml) melted butter

100g cream cheese

50g Stilton or blue cheese grated

30g Parmesan cheese grated

1/2 cup (125 ml) toasted walnuts or nut of your choice chopped

A grind of pepper

***

Peel, halve and core the pears.

Place the water and sugar in a pan, bring to the boil and stir until the sugar has disappeared, reduce to a simmer.

Add the pears and cook until they are soft but not soggy.

Melt the butter in a bowl.

Mash the pears with a fork and a little lemon juice to stop them discolouring, add to the the butter.

Grate in the cheeses, add the nuts, the pepper to taste  and give it a good stir.

Leave in the fridge to firm, serve with crispbreads or a nice crusty loaf, serves 4.

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EASY TO MAKE – FRESH LEMON CAKE

24 July 2012 in Baking, Cheap and cheerful, Easy to prepare

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This cake is an old favourite of mine with a new twist.

To see the original step-by-step recipe click here. It’s one of those where you chuck everything into a bowl and mix, happy days!

I decided to change it a little for two reasons, one, Himself kept looking meaningfully at the ever increasing pile of lemons from our two trees and Jeanne from Cook Sister is hosting a  very special Monthly Mingle and I thought I would like to join in.

Easy Lemon Cake

1.5 cups cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 cup castor sugar

125g softened butter

2 room temperature eggs

1/3 cup of milk

1.5 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1 tsp grated lemon zest

(Please note 1 cup = 250mls)

*****

Heat your oven to 160 degrees

Grease or spray a loaf tin or line with baking paper.

Put all the above ingredients into a bowl and mix on high for 3 minutes, if you think the mix is too stiff you can add a little more milk.

Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 45 mins or until risen and golden.

Cool and ice as you desire, rather than a butter icing I opted for the more simple option of mixing a little icing sugar with some more lemon juice and drizzling it over, topping with a little more lemon zest.

This resulted in a lovely moist tangy cake.

 

MonthlyMingleBanner July2012[9]

 

 

 

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Quick and Easy Honey Mustard Chicken

9 May 2012 in Cheap and cheerful, Easy to prepare, Uncategorized

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I have dutifully watched Master Chef South Africa in the abject hope that it would come right after a few episodes. Sadly I am still underwhelmed, it’s a pity they didn’t have some of our talented Food24 bloggers in there, they would have knocked spots off most of those contestants!  Chef Andrew takes over-acting to a whole new level and ag sies tog*  his mommy dresses him funny!

I had no intention of posting this dish, hence no prep pics but it turned out so nicely.  If the chicken breasts are large I tend to cut them in half, I’m not a big eater, more of a little & often grazer, which means I always have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Oranges are in season so do try and use fresh orange juice in this easy-peasy recipe.

2 chicken breasts on the bone, skin removed

1 small onion sliced  thickly

250mls fresh orange juice

1 inch sized knob of ginger grated

2 TBSP old brown sherry

1 TBS honey

1 tsp wholegrain mustard (this cuts the sweetness without making the dish burny, so it’s ok for kids)

1 TBSP raisins or sultanas (optional)

1 TBSP cornflour

Seasoning to taste

Heat your oven to 180c

Place the breasts and the onion slices in an ovenproof dish that has a lid.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients adding the cornflour last,  and pour over the chicken.

Bake for 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes to colour.

If the sauce is too thick add a little more juice.

* Ag sies tog is Afrikaans for poor thing/ jeepers/ shame/ expression of sympathy

 

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Bun & Butter Pudding

9 April 2012 in Desserts, Easy to prepare, Sous Chef

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So there went Easter, Friday we enjoyed a nice long lunch at a friends house, Saturday we just pottered around and on Sunday our children and our dudes (grandsons) came for lunch. I kept the lunch simple as both my son and daughter-in-law are on Weigh Less, so it was spit roasted chickens, salad and crispy roast potatoes….I know, I should have boiled some new potatoes but heck, I’m not on a diet! :)

I made this easy and delicious hot cross bun and butter pudding for pud  served with my homemade vanilla ice cream, listen,  the dieters could have said “no thanks” you know!   If you have some hot cross buns lingering then this recipe is perfect for using them up, otherwise you could use regular current buns or Chelsea buns. The result is an unpretentious pud with a lovely soft underbelly and a crispy top, such a nice combination.

I don’t know about you but I’ve a penchant for buns…… both edible and watchable!

Bun & Butter Pudding

8 hot cross buns

butter ( I forgot to measure how much I used….I was generous)

1 TBS raisins

1 TBS sultanas

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 2cm knob of preserved ginger chopped

1/2 cup toasted nuts

425ml milk

50ml cream (optional)

3 large eggs

1 TSP sugar plus an extra 1 TSP

1 tsp vanilla essence

Heat your oven to 180 degrees.

Grease or spray your container, mine measures 300 x 240mms.

Cut the buns in half and butter each half, then cut each half diagonally across so you get triangles.

Layer in your dish, sprinkle over the all spice, raisins, sultanas, nuts and ginger.

In a good sized bowl beat the eggs and the sugar until pale and fluffy, like this…

In a thick bottomed pan heat the milk and cream to almost boiling.

Pour the warmed milk into the egg mix and beat to combine.

Pour the mix over the buns and sprinkle with the remaining TSP of sugar.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream or cream, serves 8.

 

 

 

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