Super Speedy Supper

April 19th - Jetlagged but hungry, seeking easy but tasty tea.  Also needing to keep up with my resolution.  I had a quick scan of the fridge and then flicked through a couple of cookbooks and I came across a recipe for Chicken Paillard with Spring Onions and Prosciutto. I'd never heard of 'Paillard' before but apparently it's a scallop of veal or chicken that has been pounded flat and cooked quickly! The chicken was cut into three pieces lengthways before being bashed, which was quite therapeutic! Then the pieces were added to a pan with olive oil and lemon slices for just a couple of minutes before being joined by some butter, finely sliced spring onion and some chicken stock.  Finally 2 tablespoons of creme fraiche were added to make the sauce.

I don't know what my mother would think of cooking chicken so quickly - but it was honestly cooked and tasted delicious. Try it.

Keeping the Faith

A bit behind on the old blogging.....but still trying out new recipes. I had a couple of weeks across the bond visiting son on university exchange in Canada. I was quite impressed with my invention in a tiny kitchen in a residence hotel........adapting the pot noodle recipe, spicing it up and cooking scallops to go with it! The trouble with holiday cooking is that you don't have your cupboard of herbs, spices and other goodies....and you don't even want to fork out on a huge salt and pepper just for a few days so you need to minimise the ingredients and keep it simple but tasty.  Canadians are seriously into cream cheese (bagel woman was in seventh heaven with bagels for breakfast every day and they had these gorgeous cinnamon and raisin bagels too...I wonder if you can get them in bigger supermarkets here?)......anyhow I mixed cream cheese, grated lemon zest and parmesan cheese and stuck it on top of some salmon fillets then baked them in the oven and they did the trick.

High Quality Sausage Buttie

April 2nd - I've been busy emptying cupboards because I'm off on holiday and I had some sausages in the fridge that I'd not used at the weekend.  Bill Granger Easy offered Roasted Sausages with Peppers and Onions.  Put sausages (BG suggests coarse Italian sausages ..... if you can get them where you live!), 2 sliced yellow and 2 sliced red peppers into a baking dish with a red onion sliced into wedges, 1/2 teaspoon of chilli flakes, and a teaspoon of fennel seeds.  The whole dish is roasted for about 45 minutes in the oven then sprinkled with fresh basil and drizzled with basaltic vinegar before serving in a crusty roll.  It was like a summer barbeque in a bun!

Cheesecake Bliss

March 29th - I was out for supper a couple of weeks ago with friends and one of them brought pudding - Orkney Fudge Cheesecake - a recipe by Sue Lawrence.  Since my daughter was home for the weekend and she loves cream, fudge and tablet I thought I'd give it a go.  It's a no cook recipe and I was right back in my comfort zone bashing up biscuits for the base - Hobnobs this time instead of digestives.  The crushed biscuits were combined with butter for the base and the topping had 200g of whipped cream cheese combined with 250g of grated fudge and 600ml of lightly whipped cream.  The remaining fudge in the original recipe is supposed to be chopped and put on top of the biscuit base but I stuck all the fudge in the cheesecake and put some chopped Islay tablet on top of the creamy top.  She managed to restrain herself just long enough to take the photo..........

I was amazed at the cheesecake selection online - every possible combo of cream and sweets! Check it out!

Mass (Catering) Panic

March 28th - Saturday morning should be a day of rest and relaxation...coffee with friends, a bit of food shopping, and maybe even checking out a cookbook to see what you want to make for Sunday dinner. However my husband was organising a fundraising dinner for a school expedition and was bemoaning the fact that there were no brandy baskets to go with the cranachan.  At this point I should have just nodded and agreed...but instead said that shortbread goes really well with cranachan.  There was just that look...and then I heard myself say that I could make some.  Shortbread for 100! And I'd only ever made one disastrous shortbread before.  However I'd just been given a recipe from a colleague at work - her shortbread is fab - and there it was at the bottom of my bag on a post-it.  I had the ingredients but no method so apologies Mary Berry but this is what I did.  First I put 3 blocks of butter and 12oz of icing sugar in a bowl and attacked it with a hand mixer.  That was my first mistake - I was covered in icing sugar and the kitchen windows were covered in blobs of butter!  Undeterred I fished out the butter and softened it a bit first before adding the icing sugar.  Then I weighed out 12oz of cornflour and 24oz of plain flour.  I only added a bit of this at a time and ended up finishing mixing it by hand.  The cooking was a bit hit and miss with timing - some were a bit overdone...but those that were a pale golden tasted great.  So if you need a sneaky wee shortbread recipe this one is really good and if I can manage it so can you!

Not Mary Poppins!

March 26th - I like a steak....and it's a quick cook....so I was up for trying Steak Salad and Chimichurri Dressing in Bill Granger Easy. The steak can be cooked as you like it and the dressing was easy and delicious - 2 tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley and the same of coriander, 2 teaspoons chopped oregano, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1 chopped green chilli, 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar, 80ml of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of lime juice. A quick chop, bash and mix and there you are...........It's a bit like salsa verde and has a lovely fresh taste.

Mother of Invention

March 25th - Home alone with lots of lovely vegetables but not much else.  I really liked the pot noodle idea so here is a variation on a theme - no recipe - pure invention!  First I gently fried a few spring onions before adding in thin strips of red pepper, some fine broccoli and sliced button mushrooms with ginger, garlic and red chilli (I'm getting bolder!)  Then I added some chicken stock, pak choi and peas just letting it cook off for a few minutes before adding a few fine noodles.  To serve I bashed up some honey roast cashews for the top. Mmmm.