Creamy Chicken Kiev

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

I was inspired by the Cheat’s Chicken Kiev recipe in the May issue of BBC Good Food magazine to make something similar. We hardly ever eat chicken breast as we normally find it too dry and bland compared to the dark meat (thighs and legs). But I had some soft cheese in the fridge and I thought it would keep the chicken nice and moist, especially when coated in breadcrumbs.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I used Panko breadcrumbs as I always have them in the cupboard for when I make Chicken Katsu Curry. Normally I would pane the chicken by dusting in flour, then coating in beaten egg and then coating with breadcrumbs. But the Good Food recipe said to coat the chicken in olive oil and then coat in breadcrumbs. This method worked just as well as the pane technique and it’s a lot less faffing around! I didn’t flavour the breadcrumbs with parsley or garlic as I flavoured the soft cheese instead.

I flavoured the soft cheese with garlic and fresh chives (from my herb pot!) instead of using a shop-bought garlic and herb soft cheese.

 

TASTE TEST:

I thought the chicken was really moist and tender and I liked the crunch of the breadcrumbs. Steve said he wasn’t too keen on the soft cheese as he thought it had a strange taste, but he’s not a huge fan of it anyway. I think that maybe it was the garlic that tasted strange, as it had a bit of a raw taste to it. So maybe it is better to use a shop-bought garlic and herb soft cheese so that it would have a milder flavour? I would use this method of cooking chicken breast again as the meat was lovely and tender, but I would experiment with the filling. I loved the new technique of coating with the breadcrumbs, so I’ve learnt a new trick!

 

• Serves: 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C

 

Ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• 2 Tablespoons soft cheese (I used Sainsburys Light Soft Cheese)
• 2 Tablespoons chives, finely chopped
• 2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 4 Tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs (or use fresh breadcrumbs)
• Olive oil

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.
2. Mix together the garlic, soft cheese and chives. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Cut a slit in the side of each chicken breast to make a small pocket. Spoon half the soft cheese mixture into the hole of each chicken breast and press together to seal. (I prepared the chicken up to this stage and then left them in the fridge).
4. Coat the chicken breasts in the olive oil, then coat both sides with the breadcrumbs and drizzle with more oil (optional, I didn’t do this).
5. Place the coated chicken on a baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

Creamy Chicken Hotpot

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

This recipe is from an old issue of Waitrose magazine and you can find the original recipe on the Waitrose website.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I’ve made it quite a few times now, but I’ve adapted it as I found the pearl barley took quite a long time to cook. So I give it a head start by cooking it in the stock whilst I prepare all the other ingredients (de-bone the chicken, cut up the squash and leeks). I prefer to use crème fraîche rather than cream cheese as I find it a bit too tangy. I’ve also decreased the quantities for some of the ingredients so it will comfortably feed 2 if served on its own, or 4 people if served with something like mash.

 

TASTE TEST:

I really like this dish as I love butternut squash and the chicken is really tender. The pearl barley releases starch which thickens the sauce and the crème fraîche/cream cheese gives a lovely creaminess.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 500g chicken thigh meat (roughly 4 large thighs)
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 500g butternut squash (about ½ of a large one), peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 1 large leek, washed and thickly sliced
• 750ml hot chicken stock (I used 3 teaspoons of Knorr Chicken Stock granules)
• 75g pearl barley
• 2 heaped Tablespoons ½ fat crème fraîche

 

Directions:

1. Place the pearl barley in a small saucepan with the hot stock and simmer whilst you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan. Cut each chicken thigh fillet into 4, dust in the flour and brown in the hot oil for 4-5 minutes. Add the squash and leeks, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour in the hot stock and the parboiled barley. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly, the chicken is cooked and the barley is tender.
4. Stir in the crème fraîche and mix until melted.

Cupcakes with Fruity Cream Cheese Frosting

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I had quite a bit of frosting leftover from when I made my Mixed Berry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting so I thought I’d make some simple cupcakes to use it up. I got the recipe from a relatively new book I bought: Cupcakes by Sue McMahon. It is just a basic cupcake recipe, nothing fancy, but sometimes you should just stick to simple things. I have changed the method in her recipe because this is how I’ve always made fairy cakes and I know it works!
I only managed to ice 7 out of 12 cupcakes, but I did use a large star shaped nozzle and I only had about half of the original frosting recipe leftover.

• Makes: 12 cupcakes
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• You will need: 12 hole bun tray lined with paper cases

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, softened (I used Stork)
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 eggs (Sue’s book says to use medium but I used large)
• 125g self raising flour, sifted
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (this is my addition to the recipe!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C.
2. Beat together the butter and sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, with a Tablespoon of flour with each egg (to prevent curdling) and mix until fully incorporated.
3. Using a spatula or large metal spoon, fold in the rest of the flour, the milk and vanilla extract and gently mix  until the mixture is smooth.
4. Divide the mixture between the paper cases and level off.
5. Bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes until the cakes have risen and are just firm to the touch.
6. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing them. 

COOK’S NOTES:

• Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature to prevent the mixture from curdling.
• Once your flour is incorporated, don’t keep mixing for too long or you will stretch the gluten and your cakes will be tough.
• I used a Gas oven and I turned my tray around after half the cooking time had elapsed so that they were evenly browned.
• Mini cupcakes will take between 10-12 minutes.

Mixed Berry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I had some leftover sour cream from making Beef Stroganoff, so I found a cake recipe in my BBC Good Food 101 Cake Bakes book that had sour cream as one of the ingredients. The original recipe was Blueberry Soured Cream Cake, but I didn’t have any blueberries, so I used a pack of frozen Black Forest Fruits from Tesco. The pack contains 4 different fruits, but I only used the blackberries and blackcurrants and not the cherries and red grapes because I didn’t think they would work very well in the cake.

For the frosting I used a recipe by Leila Lindholm from her basic cupcake recipe. The frosting was yellow because of the butter and I didn’t like the way it looked. I didn’t want to add food colouring to change the colour. Then I remembered I’d left the unused cherries and grapes in the fridge and they’d defrosted and left a lovely pool of juice. So I added about a Tablespoon of the juice to the frosting and it turned it a lovely pink colour and added a great fruity flavour to it as well. The recipe for the frosting makes quite a lot, I only used about half of it and have kept the rest in the fridge. I guess I will just have to make some cupcakes to use it up!

I’m really pleased how the cake turned out as I’d never made it before and the frosting was a bit of a gamble (the last time I made a cream cheese frosting was for Rachel Allen’s Carrot Cake and it wasn’t all that well received!).

Unfortunately the fruit did sink to the bottom of the cake, even though I’d tossed it in some flour before mixing it in. I think it’s because the fruit was frozen and also because the cake batter is quite a runny consistency, so it didn’t have the body to suspend the fruit. It still tasted delicious though, as the cake is really moist from the sour cream. The fruit is lovely as it is slightly tangy and is offset by the sweet frosting.

It was lovely to come back from a walk down the park with Steve and eat this cake with a nice cup of tea!

• Serves: 10
• You will need: a 9 inch (22cm) round cake tin
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C

Ingredients:

• 175g soft butter
• 175g soft brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 225g self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 Tablespoons soured cream
• Blackberries and Blackcurrants taken from a frozen 350g pack of Tesco Black Forest Fruits

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• 60g butter, softened
• 100g cream cheese (I used Tesco Value)
• 300g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• approx. 1 Tablespoon of juice from leftover defrosted fruits

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C and butter and line the base of your round cake tin with non-stick baking paper or reusable Magic Non-Stick Liner.
2. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla extract into a food processor and whizz for 2-3 minutes until lighter in colour and well combined. Fold in the soured cream and the blackberries and blackcurrants.
3. Tip the mixture into the tin and spread it level. Bake for 50-55 minutes until it is risen, feels firm to the touch and springs back when lightly pressed.
4. Cool for 10 minutes, then take out of the tin and leave to finish cooling on a wire rack.
5. To make the frosting: in a large bowl beat the butter, cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Add the fruit juice and mix in well. Spread over the top of the cooled cake (don't be impatient as the frosting will melt if the cake is too warm).

COOK’S NOTES:

• Can be frozen un-iced.
• The cake will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. Bring it to room temperature for about an hour before serving.

Leek, Pea and Bacon Pasta Bake

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

This is one of those speedy suppers that doesn’t require any effort! The result is a really comforting dish of sweet leeks and peas, meaty bacon, pasta and a creamy cheese sauce – yum!

You will need: a large frying pan, a large saucepan

Ingredients:

• 3-6 rashers of bacon, chopped
• 1 leek, finely sliced into rings
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 140g frozen peas
• 300g pasta shapes
• 200g tub of soft cream cheese (I used Tesco Value, only 45p!)
• 85g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 teaspoon mustard (I used Dijon)
• black pepper

Directions:

1. Boil the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water.
2. Meanwhile, fry the bacon in the oil until it is crispy and then add the leeks and gently fry for 10 minutes until they are soft.
3. Add the peas and gently fry until they’re heated through, about 3 minutes.
4. Reserve 150ml of the cooking water when you drain the pasta. Add this water, the cream cheese, half of the grated cheese and the mustard to the leeks and bacon. Stir until the cheese melts into a creamy sauce. Then stir in the pasta. Scatter the other half of the cheese over the top.
5. Heat the grill to high, then grill your pasta bake for 2-3 minutes until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.