Chicken and Sultana Casserole

Je suis un peu triste en ce moment in english, I'm pretty sad right now lol thank you Google translate :) Missing the hubby like mad who is in an oil rig somewhere in Egypt since Thursday 13th of September (my birthday!) hence I decided to cook and blog to cheer myself up a little bit ;)

So our dinner for tonight is called Chicken and Sultana Casserole...

Total Time:

15-20 min

Prep

5-7 min

Cook

8-10 min

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 60g (2oz) butter
• 500 g (1lb) chicken strips
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 red onions chopped
• 155g (5oz) button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 tbsp plain flour
• 125g (4oz) sliced ham, chopped
• 185mL (6fl oz) chicken stock
• 4 tbsp white wine
• 440g (14oz) canned peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 90g (3oz) sultanas (Sultanas and raisins are both dried white grapes but sultanas are from seedless varieties. They are golden in color and tend to be plumper, sweeter and juicier than other raisins)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

How To Cook:

1.  Melt butter in a large frying pan and cook chicken over a medium high heat for 4-5 minutes. Remove from pan using slotted spoon and set aside to keep warm.
2. Add garlic, onions and mushrooms to pan and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute longer. Return chicken to pan with ham, stock, wine, tomatoes, sultanas, parsley and basil and cook until sauce thickens slightly. Serve with rice.

 Happy eating and see you again next time!

Fettuccine Carbona and Peaches in Cinnamon Syrup

Here's another budget-friendly quick-fix recipe to get a simple meal on your table for you and your family. One of the easiest and quickest pasta you can make is Fettuccine Carbonara plus Peaches in Cinnamon Syrup as your desert.

FETTUCCINE CARBONA

Total Time:

30 min

Prep

5 min

Cook

25 min

Serves 4
Ingredients:

1. 500 g (1lb) fettuccine
2. 1 tablespoon olive oil

CARBONARA SAUCE

• 4 eggs
• 3 tablespoons double cream
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• grounds black pepper
• slices of bacon

How To Cook:

1. Cook fettuccine in boiling water in a large saucepan following packet directions. Drain then toss through 2 tablespoons oil and set aside to keep warm.
2. To make sauce, place eggs, cream and Parmesan cheese in a mixing bowl and beat well to combine. Season to taste with black pepper. (I've added an extra egg as well as a little bit more of cream because my kids love the sauce like scrambled eggs)
3. Heat remaining oil in a large-frying pan and cook bacon for 4-5 minutes or until crisp. Add fettuccine  and toss well. Pour egg mixture into pan and toss over a low heat for 1 minute or until egg is almost cooked. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

PEACHES IN CINNAMON SYRUP

my boys helping mommy prepare our desert

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons orange juice concentrate (I used freshly squeezed oranges)
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• canned peaches, drained
• you can also add 1 tablespoon Cointreau (Orange liqueur) if available

How To Prepare:

1. Place orange juice concentrate, caster sugar, lemon juice, Cointreau, water, cloves and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until mixture becomes syrupy.
2. Place peaches on a plate and pour syrup over.

Thanks for reading and I'll catch you all next time!

Pork Stroganoff

And today's quick and easy meal menu is... Pork Stroganoff :)

Total Time:

40 min

Prep

10 min

Cook

30 min

Ingredients:

• 375 g (12 oz) fettuccine
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 500 g (1 lb) pork fillet, cut into strips
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, halved or quartered and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup flour seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 can (14 ounces) cups beef broth
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup sour cream

How To Cook:

1. Cook   fettuccine in boiling water in a large saucepan following packet instructions. Drain and toss through olive oil, minced garlic and poppy seeds (I used sesame seeds as an alternative as poppy seeds are not available here in Dubai) Set aside to keep warm.
2. Sauté sliced mushrooms in butter in a large skillet until just tender. Remove to a bowl; set aside.
3. Toss pork in seasoned flour to coat, shake off excess. 
4. Add oil to skillet; brown pork with onions, stirring frequently. Add back the mushrooms, the beef broth, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer briskly for 5 minutes. Cover and continue to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes longer.
5. Stir in sour cream and heat through. Serve immediately with fettuccine. 

Enjoy and Happy Eating! :)

Orange Pork Chops

I know..I know...I haven't been on since no one cares how long, but now I'm back so let's get down to business and cut the crappucino LOL! :p

I am by no means an expert in the kitchen. In fact, this is one shortcoming that really plagues me as a mom. Luckily, my hubby is one helluva great cook (master chef in his past life as he says although he's not really good in clean ups :p) but I really did learn quite a lot from him. So recently,  I’ve made it a personal goal to cook more, and to experiment in the kitchen, to put more wholesome, home-cooked meals on my family’s table. And to keep myself accountable I am going to be blogging about this journey. Woop! =D>

So here's a quick fix meal I prepared for tonight. I hope you enjoy this recipe, just as my family did! 

Total Time:

30 min

Prep

10 min

Cook

20 min

 Orange Pork Chops

Ingredients: 

• 5 Pork Chops
• 250 mL (8 fl oz) orange juice 
• 2.5 tbsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp orange marlmalade
• ground pepper
• 1 tbsp oil
•  15 g (1/2 ox) butter

How To Cook:

1. Combine coriander and black pepper and sprinkle over chops. 
2. Heat oil and butter in a frying pan and cook chops over high heat for 2-3 minutes each side.
3. Add orange juice and marmalade and cook for 10-15 minutes longer, or until chops are cooked through and sauce thickens slightly.
4. Prepare vegetables of  your choice to accompany Orange Pork Chops

 
Optional Desert:
Melon Salad
Ingredients:

•  250 g (8 oz) natural yogurt
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lime rind
• 1/2 melon, peeled, seeded and sliced
• 3 tbsps honey
• 3 tbsps chopped walnuuts

How To Prepare:

1.  Combine yogurt, lime juice and lime rind in a small bowl
2. Arrange melons on individual serving plates. Spoon yogurt mixture over fruit, drizzle honey and sprinkle walnuts.

Happy home cooking! Until next time... /bye

Chilli Con Carne

HOLA AMIGOS! Welcome back to cooking 101 with Lucky King! (LOL not bad) :) Today's recipe is the hot pot wonder Mexican/Spanish dish, Chile Con Carne which means "chili pepper with meat" in English. Ok enough about the origin or translation details and let's just get the cooking started shall we?

What I'm about to share with you is most probably one of the quickest way (me thinks) to cook the good old chilli con carne. Not too many ingredients & fussy preps. Instant cooking, is what I really like when I do the cooking at home specially when my hubby and I gets home from work a bit late and we're really famished, or I feel sick or tired (lazy most of the time), arrival of unexpected visitors at home or anything for that reason. Actually my hubby wanted tuna pasta bake but I said we'll be eating dinner at half past 10pm if we do that.. Let's see maybe tonight and I'll surely blog about it :P

So let's start!

Here's our shopping list:
1 sachet Colman's Chili Con Carne Recipe Mix
450g (1lb) lean minced beef
2 medium sized onions ( I've only used 1 because it's quite a large one), chopped
400g (15oz) can tomatoes (I've used waitrose chopped tomatoes with olive oil & chopped garlic)
400g (15oz) kidney beans, drained (I've used essential waitrose red kidney beans in chilli sauce. But feel free to pep up this dish with more chilli depending on your taste. I prefer it mild spicy because we've got kids at home)
150ml (1/4 pint) cold water


How To Cook:
1. Brown the mince and onion and drain off any excess fat
2. Mix the contents of the sachet wth the water and add the mince.
3. Add the tomatoes and kidney beans.
4. Bring to boil, stirring continously.
5. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until throroughly cooked.
6. Ensure piping hot and serve immediately
(above were copied from the back of the Colman's recipe Mix sachet)

mis ingredientes lol!

browning the onion and mince

Colman's recipe mixed with 1/4 pint cold water

added the sauce to the skillet

added the chopped tomatoes and kidney beans

leave it simmer for atleast 10-15 mins

DELICIOSO!!! Bon appetit? LOL

Hope you enjoy!

Cottage Pie

Yeeppie! Another frustrated cooking attempt by yours truly :D Personally, this should be rated  5 out of 10 where 10 being perfect lol! Firstly, due to the lack of ingredients. My mashed potato did not have any milk therefore it wasn't fluffy but thankfully not too dry and not so sloppy either. I started cooking late and I couldn't be bothered to run to Spinney's and buy some milk but it didn't make so much difference anyway ha! Also, I forgot to sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese after spreading the mashed pots over the beef. And again the inconsistency, I think I've boiled too much potatoes and cooked too little minced beef.


So I'm warning you, this isn't your traditional english cottage pie like that one on top haha!

After crumbling in some ground beef on to the skillet with onions. Cooked until brown.

Diced potatoes boiled until soft :)

Added some carrots and green peas

My ultimate cooking parter :D

Added the recipe mix in to the meat filling

Mashed pots with one of the very generous slab of butter lol (I added about 10 of those)

After spreading the mashed pots over the beef filling

inside the oven

I k now, I know, it looks odd HAHA

but hey don't judge the book by it's cover lol whatever

In fairness, it tastes really good according to my hubby, my mum, my sons and my officemate (coz I brought some for lunch today) they better be not telling me it taste good just so I will feel motiviated to cook dinner again and again coz it ain't fair lol! But anyway, I loved it and really it isn't so bad after all! Yummers!

Chicken Chasseur

I don't really love cooking because cooking doesn't love me back LOL! Seriously, I can't cook for my life. I need to get a better job if I were to live all by myself because I would just go to any nearest fast food chain or order take aways just to eat everyday until I go skint. And I don't think anyone can survive with instant noodles, eggs and hotdogs alone! Most of the time my husband cooks and prepares every meal at home otherwise we'll get take aways. In the morning specially weekdays, we rarely eat breakfast except my son Calix who I make sure eats his chocopuffs before going to school. My husband sometimes eats weetabix if and only when he woke up earlier than usual. I only have a cup of coffee or tea in the morning which I drink while I drive Calix to school and then to my workplace.

But now I've realized that it's my job as a wifey and a mother to cook food for my family, perhaps 3-4 times/week is ok haha I'm lazy like that! And due to my inconsistency, the recipes and cooking instructions are very essential even if I've cooked the same meal twice or thrice already otherwise even a dog won't eat the food or I can't cook at all. There was once when I was only briefed by my hubby how to bake beef lasgna but he forgot to tell me how to prepare the sauce and so I mixed the red and white sauce instead of cooking the minced beef with the red sauce :D Ok enough of that now...

So here it is, one of my frustrated cooking attempt:

I fried the chicken portions first even if the How To Cook instructions didn't say so :) as I wanted them to be well cooked

I've also added some salt and pepper

Here, I've added the onions and mushrooms...

Finally the recipe mix...

180 degrees F

I love Colman's! I get about 5 different recipe mixes when we go food shopping....

I've only cooked them for 40 mins and not 1 1/2 hr because I've already fried the chicken portions earlier

for hubby

and for me

Actually I'm well chuffed with the outcome and my hubby even brought some for work lunch the next day ;) Yummers!