Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on by

There are very few experiences in life that give me more familial happiness than baking with my children. When my girls were really young it was fun to engage their minds in something different and getting them excited about eating food, as they are getting a bit bigger I use the opportunity to talk to them about healthy choices and challenging their palettes with more complex flavours. It’s also a good opportunity to review fractions/reading a recipe and following directions/measuring in a fun way. Research shows that a child who has experienced cooking with a family member is more likely to be interested in cooking and making whole food rather than fast food choices when they are adults.

 

Vegan choc chip cookies

Vegan choc chip cookies

As these are vegan cookies, they are a little bit flatter that a regular cookie – there is no egg or egg replacer in this recipe to give it that lift. That also means you have to be very careful with cooking time. When you take these cookies out of the oven they will be set, but still soft and wobbly. They will dry out and harden when you take them out of the oven so if you leave them to bake too long, it will result in extremely crunchy cookies – even if they are not burnt. Other than that this is an enjoyable recipe to make – no fancy gadetry required. I used chopped vegan chocolate to make the chips but if you can find vegan choc chips then go right ahead.

Enjoy and happy cooking! xx

Ingredients

1 cup vegan butter (I use Golden Canola Lite or Nuttelex)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 white sugar
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Flax Seed Oil (available at most supermarkets)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tablespoon warm water
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
150 g vegan chocolate, chopped

1. Combine the softened vegan butter and the sugars in a mixing bowl and cream together

Vegan butter and sugars combined

Vegan butter and sugars combined

2. In a separate bowl, combine the flax seed oil, vanilla and water. Whisk together. The texture will be gooey and egg-like. Add this to the butter mixture

flax seed oil mixture

flax seed oil mixture

3. Add the flour, salt and baking soda to the mixture and mix well until combined and homogenous

4. Chop up the vegan chocolate and fold into the mixture.( I use a mezzaluna to do this)

Chopped vegan chocolate

Chopped vegan chocolate

5. Put heaped teaspoons of the cookie dough a centimeter apart on a tray covered with baking paper

IMG_5434

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes. When you take the cookies out of the oven they will still be soft. Leave them to cool for a few minutes in the tray then transfer to a wire rack. If any of them have stuck together during baking, use a thin knife to separate them while they are soft and pliable.

7. ENJOY!

IMG_5438

Zesty Fish Fajitas

Posted on by
Fish Fajitas

Fish Fajitas

Zesty Fish Fajitas

A great and quick addition to your seafood repertoire. Fish is seasoned with cumin, paprika and garlic and pan fried with capsicum and onion. As the vegetables and fish sautee, a tasty seasoned sauce will be created. Freshen up with a zing of lemon and some coriander – and serve wrapped in a soft tortilla with guacamole and tomato salsa. You can also add sour cream and cheese if you are not observing a vegan diet.
I serve it family style and allow the kids to each put together their own wraps – with as much filling, guac, etc as they like. This is also an easy party food if you have a casual crowd over for dinner.

hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

800 grams ling fillets (alternative fish can be cod, tilapia, basa, or another white fleshed strong fish)
2 tablespoons coriander chopped finely
Juice of 2 fresh limes
3-4 fresh garlic cloves, crushed with a little salt
1 tablespoon paprika
3/4 tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 red capsicum, sliced
2 green capsicum, sliced
1 large red onion, sliced
1. Put the fish, 2 garlic cloves, and half the cumin and paprika in a bowl and marinate around 20 minutes (if you are in a hurry 5 minutes will do)
2. In a deep, wide saucepan sautee the capsicum and onion with the remaining garlic and spices until starting to soften

3. Add the fish into the pan and mix until cooked

Fish fajita filling

Fish fajita filling

4. Zest the fajitas with the lime juice and add the coriander
5. Prepare the guacamole using my Perfect Guacamole recipe. Prepare the Salsa (or use store bought)
6. Serve with warm tortillas family style, and allow each person to pick their own fillings
7. Sour cream tastes good too if you are not observing a non dairy diet.

Happy cooking x

Spicy prawn and potato Biryani

Posted on by

In the land that is Sydney, the weather has been miserable for a number of days, and while in the past these days were the perfect opportunity to indulge in slow cooked poultry, braised meats, or gooey fudgy desserts, that indulgence must be put on hold for a mere 18 days as the Apostles fast has begun. Thankfully, seafoods are included in this fast so the entire Egyptian population doesn’t go back to having chips and gravy for lunch!

The best thing about vegetarian cooking with seafood is that all meals are super quick. Now’s the time to break out the cans of tuna, get creative with fresh fish, experiment with frozen prawns…and yeah okay a vegetable dish or two will be yummy too 😉

My go to meal with I’m seeking comfort food that is vegetarian is almost always Indian cuisine. A warm bowl of spicy goodness that warms me to my cockles. Biryani is not only  a popular Indian meal, it is also considered one of the national dishes of Bahrain, a country where I lived for 9 years and have very fond memories in. I used to think of biriyani as the most difficult dish to make because of the spice list as long as your arm…until I discovered biryani mixed spice being sold in powder form, ready for use at the local shops.

It’s not a super quick dish, as there are 3 pots on the go almost at the same time, one with the rice, another with the prawn and onion mixture and the 3rd sautéing potatoes, but it’s a pretty easy dish and the results are certainly satisfying. Feel free to play with the spice levels in this dish – in my family we like our food spicy enough to make our tastebuds dance but not so spicy that they hide the flavours underneath…reduce or increase the amount of biryani spice you use to achieve your desired rate of spiciness.

From my family to yours….Happy cooking xx

Plated up...prawn and potato biryani

Plated up…prawn and potato biryani

 

Ingredients
Biryani Spice
2 cups Basmati RIce

Cooking oil
2 Large onions sliced
1tsp minced garlic
1tsp minced ginger
2 potatoes cubed
500 g shelled prawns (frozen is fine)
1 x 400 g can diced tomatoes

Method

  1. Start by making the rice. Heat two tablespoons of cooking oil in a pot, add the rice and 3 cups of water and 1.5 teaspoons of biryani spice and 1.5 teaspoons of salt. Leave to boil, then just as the rice is almost cooked turn off the heat and cover the pot.
Biryani Rice

Biryani Rice

 

2. Meanwhile cover the bottom of a deep saucepan with oil and sauté the onions until soft, then add the ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant.

3. Separately (at the same time) In a tall stock pot which is where the biryani will ultimately cook heat enough oil to sauté the potatoes until almost cooked.

4. In the pot with the onions add 2 teaspoons biryani spice and when mixed well add the prawns and sauté until it starts changing colour, then add the diced tomatoes and the potatoes from the other pot, and turn off the heat. Check seasoning for salt.

Biryani prawn mixture

Biryani prawn mixture

 

5. In the tall stockpot layer the rice and prawn mixture alternately, starting and ending with the rice, then return to low heat and cook altogether until the rice and prawns cook.

Mix, garnish with coriander and enjoy!

 

Vanilla scented creme anglaise rice pudding

Posted on by

Rice pudding is considered by some to be the ultimate comfort dessert. There is something almost reassuring about a bowl of creamy rice that has been scented with vanilla and lovingly stirred until it is soft and ambrosial. One of my most vivid childhood memories is the constant existence of rice pudding, sitting in bowls dotted in my grandma’s fridge – waiting for her hungry grandchildren to enjoy.

Creamy rice pudding

Creamy rice pudding

Quite honestly I rarely make this myself anymore – especially in a non-vegan form. I kind of “got over” rice pudding because we used to have it so much. My love for rice pudding was re-invigorated when I tasted a version that tasted less like traditional rice pudding, but like a gorgeous silky creme anglaise (which is a light custard) with creamy rice in it. I wondered how they achieved such a result…did they cook the rice separately and fold in the creme anglaise? Did they make a traditional rice pudding and fold it in with the creme? My mind was awash with possibilities, but i really didn’t have time to experiment. Cut to a few months later I was talking to my friend about her new thermomix and she told me how she made rice pudding with eggs in it and how she had never made it that way before. Lightbulbs all over my head…OF COURSE, you start the recipe like a traditional rice pudding (rice and milk bubbling away, lovingly stirred in the pot) but instead of adding the sugar and letting it set at that, you separately prepare a concoction of egg yolks and sugar, whip them slightly and then once the rice is is the right texture, you slowly (SLOWLY) a ladleful at a time add the milky rice to the egg yolks, then put that whole mixture back on the heat until it thickens. Creme Anglaise rice pudding….ah-mazing!

There are a few things to remember:

1. Quality of the vanilla used is extremely important to your end result. I used vanilla bean paste because i love the stuff, but you can use a whole vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and the pod left in the milk until the rice is cooked. If you will be using Vanilla Essence, ensure its a good quality real essence and not an imitation

2. When you add the milky rice mixture to the eggs, you must do this at an ultra ultra slow speed. Add one ladleful…mix…add another ladleful…mix some more. The idea here is that you raise the temperature of the eggs extremely slowly so that they dont cook and turn into scrambled eggs with vanilla and rice. Eww.

3. You want to cook the rice softer and creamier than you would regular rice for eating, so be patient, and enjoy the process.

Ingredients
5 cups whole milk
1/2 cup rice (raw, medium grain)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla essence or 1 vanilla bean
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 pinch salt

Method
1. In a pot add the rice, milk, vanilla bean (if using – dont add paste or vanilla yet) and salt and bring to a gentle boil while stirring

2. Lower the heat and continue stirring while the mixture simmers, until the rice is cooked and creamy, a softer consistency than what you would cook it for regular eating (add vanilla essence or paste at this point)

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until well combined and slowly add the milky rice mixture one ladleful at a time- whisking the whole time. You are raising the temperature of the eggs as slowly as possible to avoid them cooking

4. Add the combined mixture back into the pot and put back on medium heat and stir until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

5. Dollop into serving dishes and chill

You can garnish with nuts or cinnamon, but I love it just as is

Happy cooking xx

Moist Veal and pork meatballs immersed in a lush tomato sauce with creamy mash

Posted on by

Nothing stresses me out more than not knowing what to cook! While I love to pour through recipe books – I find that exactly like dress shopping, when you aren’t looking for something there are a million things you would make but when you need to decide on what to cook that evening nothing looks good or feels just right. I wanted something warm and tasty without a huge amount of effort. I am still a bit jet lagged from filming last week and I feel like my house is just getting back to normal so I didn’t want to make something too elaborate during the week.

Gorgeous meatballs sitting on a bed of creamy mash

Gorgeous meatballs sitting on a bed of creamy mash

What I love about this recipe is the inclusion of Ricotta cheese and Pecorino Romano cheese in the meat mixture, along with Sage – which infuses its delicate flavour through the sauce and the meatballs. Nothing says comfort food more than a warm bowl of creamy buttery mashed potatoes smothered in meatballs and their sauce….well worth the effort. All plates were cleaned completely – my fussy eater, my little foodie, my husband and the toddlers too! Hope your family enjoys as much as mine.

Happy cooking xx

Ingredients
400 g pork mince
400 g veal mince
150 g ricotta cheese
3 cloves garlic sliced finely
4-6 fresh sage leaves diced finely
2 tbs chopped parsley
40 g grated Pecorino Romano cheese (use parmesan if you cannot find)
2 tbs breadcrumbs
1 egg lightly beaten

Olive oil
1 onion diced finely
5 fresh sage leaves
750 ml tomato passata
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste

Method
To make the meatballs combine the minces, ricotta, garlic, diced sage leaves, parsley, romano, breadcrumbs, and egg and season well. Shape into small balls and chill while you make the sauce.

Large marble sized meatballs rolled and ready to go

Large marble sized meatballs rolled and ready to go

To make the sauce:
1. Heat the olive oil in a deep wide saucepan and add 2 of the sage leaves and fry until crisp – remove and set aside;

2. add the onions to the pan and saute until softened

3. add the tomato paste and mix until combined, followed by the canned tomatoes and the passatta

4. add the rest of the sage leaves and season well

5. reduce the heat to low, cover and leave to simmer while you complete the meatballs

Assembly:

1. Pan fry the meatballs until brown on all sides – dont worry about cooking them through they will finish off in the sauce
2. Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for a further 5 minutes or until the meatballs are completely cooked through.

Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and for some added decadence shred some Romano cheese on top
IMG_5317

Creamy mash
1. Peel 6 large potatoes and slice roughly into squares (cutting the potatoes before boiling makes them cook faster)
2. Boil in salted water until cooked, drain and return to the pan
3. Add 50 g of butter and mash with a potato masher
4. Add 1/2 cup thickened or pure cream and continue mashing until creamy
5. Season with salt and white pepper
6. Serve immediately.

Creamy chicken, bacon, mushroom and halloumi bake

Posted on by

Some recipes stand the test of time. This recipe is my grandmother’s…she used to make it for my family when she would come and stay with us when we were little and every time I tasted it I thought it was the yummiest thing in the world. Layers of chicken, ham, and halloumi cheese, topped with a bechamel and baked until golden. YUMMO. The thing is, my grandmother never wrote down her savoury recipes only her sweets, and I haven’t regularly stood with her in the kitchen while cooking since i was around 6.  A few years ago, my Dad recreated the recipe through experimentation –  and we learned a lot. Halloumi is quite a salty cheese, and bacon is pretty salty too so be careful with your seasonings so that it doesn’t end up being salt central. Through the years we have added a few modern touche to the recipe (ie mushrooms) and substituted the cured ham for bacon. Its a dish that pleases my whole family, young and old. I hope you enjoy

Chicken bake happily sitting in the oven until the top is golden brown

Chicken bake happily sitting in the oven until the top is golden brown

Ingredients

For the bechamel:
40 g butter
40 g flour
2 cups milk

For the chicken*:
A whole chicken, quartered
1 Onion
2 bay leaf
2 cardamom Pods
Salt and pepper to season

For the rest of the dish
4-6 slices bacon
200 g sliced mushrooms
1 x 250 g packet halloumi cheese

To make the bechamel
Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour and cook for a few minutes
gradually add the milk (ideally the milk is at room temperature or slightly warmed in the microwave) and whisk all the while until the bechamel starts to thicken. Season with salt and white pepper

To make the chicken
Boil the chicken in a pot full of water, seasoned and spices added. *You can use a roast chicken from the shops instead (skin off)
Once it is cooked, remove from the water and flake into pieces

To assemble
In a large an deep casserole dish, layer the ingredients.

Start with a layer of chicken, followed by bacon, halloumi, mushrooms and repeat. You should get at least two layers of each ingredient. Follow the last layer with all the bechamel

Bake in a 180 degree Celsius oven until the bechamel is golden brown and bubbling.

Chicken mushroom bacon halloumi and bechamel bake

Chicken mushroom bacon halloumi and bechamel bake

Happy cooking xx

Fork tender Lamb Shanks with creamy garlic mashed potatoes

Posted on by

I am going a bit casserole crazy this week…this is partially because we did lots of casseroles when filming the Divine and Delicious TV show but also because this freezing cold weather we have been having in Sydney lends itself very well to a slow cooked, warming casserole.

There is nothing in life quite like a fork tender lamb shank. The slow cooking on relatively low heat means all the connective tissues in the shank break down and all you are left with is gorgeously tender meat literally falling off the bone. My recipe souses the shanks in a deep rich tomato sauce flavoured with smoked paprika, coriander, and rosemary. Because the sauce is so delicious, I would feel incomplete if I didn’t serve these shanks atop a small mountain of creamy garlic mash. Pillowy and flavoursome and oh so decadent!

For shank lovers and lamb lovers of any sort…enjoy and happy cooking xx

IMG_5237

Lamb Shanks with creamy garlic mash

2 tbspns olive oil

4 large lamb shanks – ideally “Frenched” which means the butcher has trimmed the bone short and removed the excess fat
2 onions, diced
4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tbspns ground coriander seeds

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 tbspn tomato paste
½ cup of red wine
400 g can diced tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
2 sprigs rosemary
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish over medium heat and brown the shanks n all sides.  I find the best results come from using a cast iron casserole pot.

Remove the shanks from the pot and set aside (an old ice cream container or tuperware is best for this and doesn’t create more pots for washing).

Add the onions to the pan and cook until soft. Add the garlic, coriander seeds, and smoked paprika and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half and then the tomatoes and their juice, the stock, and rosemary. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Return the shanks to the pot and submerge in the liquid. Season to taste

Cover tightly and transfer to the oven for 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.

Serves 4.

Creamy Garlic Mash

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes
50g butter
3/4 cup thickened cream
2 cloves garlic peeled
salt and white pepper to taste

1. Peel and boil the potatoes and garlic until the potatoes are cooked.
2.  drain, and mash the potatoes while adding cubes of the butter, chopped up
3. add the thickened cream and continue to mash
4. Season with salt and white pepper

Happy cooking all xx

Chicken casserole with bacon and mushrooms

Posted on by

On a cold sydney day, there is nothing like coming home to warming casserole, especially one I have prepared earlier! I love casseroles for a few reasons, firstly because they involve a flurry of effort at the beginning and then you step back and let the oven do all the work, secondly because when any type of meat is cooked in a casserole you know its going to be meltingly tender and fall off the bone, and finally and most importantly because for me taste is the most important part of eating, casseroles taste better the next day so its perfect for a busy mum of four like me!

One of the most important things about your casserole is the pot. I use a good quality cast iron pot so that I can do what I need to on the stove then pop it in the oven without changing pots. Less time washing up, more time painting my nails (okay I never have time to paint my nails, in actual fact it’s more time to spend doing homework with my girls but that is just as important!). Also the cast iron is a perfect vestibule for the slow cooking, the heat is distributed evenly and yields a much better result. Being cast iron, if you treat them well these pots should last a lifetime

Chicken casserole with bacon and mushrooms

Chicken casserole with bacon and mushrooms

The flavours of this dish are rich and earthy. You have smokiness from the bacon, depth of flavour from the tomato which is lifted by the addition of garlic, white wine and chicken stock and a splash of cream. Another benefit of this recipe is that it includes several finely diced vegetables which is always a bonus because not only is this recipe delicious it also has high nutritional value!

From my family to yours, I hope you enjoy 🙂

Ingredients

Oil

2 small chickens (around 1 kilo or just over) cut into quarters

200g bacon, chopped (use good quality smoked bacon from your butcher)
1 medium onion finely diced
2 medium carrots finely diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
200g button mushrooms, roughly chopped
2  tablespoons  plain flour
1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup white wine
2 cups  chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup cream

Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley, to garnish

Method
Film the bottom of a heavy-based saucepan (I use a cast iron one)  over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan and brown pieces on all sides. Fry the chicken in one layer, and ensure a nice brown develops, adding more oil as necessary. Once browned, remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add bacon, onion and carrot and cook, stirring, until onion has softened.

Add garlic, mushrooms, flour and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes.
Gradually stir in wine and chicken stock. Increase heat to high and continue stirring until the mixture simmers.

Return chicken to the pan and add the bay leaves. Cover pan and reduce heat so that the mixture is simmering. Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender and sauce has reduced. You may need to remove the lid for the last 15-20 minutes of the cooking time if the sauce has not reduced enough. Stir casserole occasionally during cooking.
Stir in cream, bring casserole back to the simmer, and then turn off the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf and place chicken on serving plates. Spoon sauce over chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

I serve this dish with rice because my people are a rice people, but it would work equally well with some warm sourdough on the side or creamy mashed potatoes.

Happy cooking! xx

Dark Chocolate tart with salted caramel and chocolate ganache

Posted on by

This tart is the very definition of decadence. I have been wanting to using Careme Pastry for a little while now, I see it every time I am in my local gourmet store, but since I quite like making my own pastry I haven’t really seen the need. I had some salted caramel left over from my Cannoli recipe which I posted earlier this week and I was wondering how best to use it, because it is dangerous just sitting in my fridge. Certain people (ahm, me) feel the need to have a spoon of pure salted caramel each time they open the fridge and that is just not any good for my thighs. Best to use it to make something that can be shared among many people’s thighs. Pastry is a labour of love, and almost impossible midweek in a household with 4 kids, so I popped to the store, bought the Careme’s Dark Chocolate Pastry, blind baked it, make a super quick ganache and there was a gorgeous dessert waiting to be eaten within 30 minutes. I should caveat that when you allow it a few hours to set, its both easier to eat but also more tasty because you can discern the difference between the salted caramel and the choc ganache. Anyone who knows me however knows that patience is not my strong suit, so my husband and I shared one tart when it was still gooey and unset and had the second one the next day.

IMG_5166

The pastry has a dark chocolate crust – which is not something that you find commonly, but I really dont know why this is the case, because  it is SOO amazing. Next comes the Salted Caramel  layer which is silky and smooth and somehow that little bit of salt makes the sweetness of the caramel all the more tasty. A simple choc ganache tops it off and be prepared for a rich experience when you take your first bite.

Ingredients
1 packet of Careme Dark Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry
1 quantity Salted caramel
60 g dark chocolate crushed
1/4 cup cream warmed to scalding

Method
1. Start by placing the pastry into greased tart tins
2. Prepare the pastry for blind baking by placing a sheet of baking paper on top, then filling with pastry weights or beans as I have done below
3. Blind bake in a 180 degrees Celscius oven (non fan forced) for 7 minutes

Blind baking the tarts

Blind baking the tarts

2. Remove the beans and pastry and bake for a further 2 minutes to crisp up
3. Remove from the oven and leave to cool

To make the salted caramel

1. Place 50  grams of sugar in a pot over medium heat, and stir constantly while it melts.

2. As its starts to melt add some more sugar and keep adding gradually until it is all melted. Do not allow to burn.

3. Once the sugar is completely melted add the butter, stir until incorporated.

4. Meanwhile warm the cream in the microwave until it is slightly warm, and add to the caramel mixture gradually while stirring until it’s a smooth homogenous mixture. Dont be alarmed if a sugar ball forms, just keep stirring continuously over low heat and it will dissolve into the rest of the caramel mixture

5. Add salt to taste

Eating the tart before it was set resulted in gooey caramel melding with the choc ganache! Yum

Eating the tart before it was set resulted in gooey caramel melding with the choc ganache! Yum

To make the Ganache
1. Add the scalded cream to the crushed chocolate in a bowl and whisk vigorously until combined

Assemble
1. once the tart shells are cool, fill with the salted caramel

2. then pour over the ganache and using a palate knife spread to cover

3. leave to set for a few hours

Serve!

Happy cooking xx

IMG_5168

Chicken with white wine, bacon and brussel sprouts

Posted on by

My regular readers will know that  I have been recently set a challenge by my daughter who came home one day and declared that her friend told her that she didn’t like brussel sprouts but because I was a better cook than her friend’s mum that she was sure she would like brussel sprouts if I made them. I was honoured and humbled by her faith in me! I set out to do some research on the best way to prepare brussel sprouts, because it is not something that I have ever attempted at home. I found many recipes, most of which called for the sprouts to be bathed in butter and other seasonings. The thing is, nowhere in these recipes does anyone touch on TEXTURE. Brussel sprouts are extremely delicate things, and when cooked too long they turn into the ugliest watery un-flavoursome mush, so it is key to cook them very delicately.

This recipe is a variation on my standard go to chicken with white wine and vegetables midweek dinner on the table in 30 minutes dish. I used eschallots and bacon rather than the usual mirepoix of celery onion and carrot, I intensified the stock by using both liquid and a stock cube and came up with what I think is a really nutritious and delicious meal for the family. The only problem is due to the delicate nature of the sprouts, it does not reheat very well and as such cannot be prepared in advance (says she who learned this the hard way) Keep this in mind when you are planning your menus.

IMG_5153

Take care and happy cooking xx

Ingredients

2 x size 10 chickens, quartered

butter and oil

10 shallots chopped into wedges

1 cup white wine

3 pieces smoked bacon, diced

1 cup chicken stock

1 chicken stock cube

10 brusel sprouts, halved
Splash of cream

Method
1. Heat a deep wide saucepan and melt the butter with the oil
2. Render the fat off the chicken and pour off all except about 2 tablespoon
3. Add the bacon and cook until starting to crisp, add the eschallots and sauté until softened
4. Add the wine and chicken stock, salt and pepper then bring the  mixture to the boil
5. Return the chicken to the pan and lower the heat to a simmer, cover and allow to simmer for 30 minutes
6. Add the halved brussel sprouts to the pan and cover for another 5 minutes max
7. Add a splash of cream and check seasoning with salt and pepper

Serve immediately with rice.

Happy cooking xx