novel34

    I picked up a few chicken crowns at the grocery store last week that were on for a really nice price.   They were only £3.  We like chicken in this house.  I think it's probably the one protein we eat the most of. A chicken crown is like a turkey crown except it's chicken.   The legs are removed and in this case the wings as well.  What you end up with is a nice compact sized roast, with the bone and skin intact, which you can still stuff if you like. I created a simple bread stuffing for this one I cooked the other day.  It was not a huge amount, just enough to slip between the skin and the meat of the chicken breast, but it helped to keep the chicken really nice and moist.   With the excess amount, I simply grated a small sweet potato and mixed it in and then baked it in a casserole along side of the chicken.  It was really tasty! I made a tasty bread sauce to have as well.   Bread sauce is a lovely sauce...

 I love food this time of year . . . I know I say that all year round, but this is the time of year that we really start to get stuck into comfort foods . . . winter warmers . . . rich soups, stews, casseroles and bakes. Food that, with the exception of a few small prep details, pretty much cooks itself.  Simple and wholesome ingredients, but let me tell you . . . more often than not there it nothing simple at all about the flavours!  Most pack a very delicious punch! I've always been the kind of person that has been able to put things together and come up with something satisfyingly delicious . . . things like this Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole I am showing you here today. It's simple.   It uses stuff you most likely have in your fridge, larder and freezer right now.  It tastes fabulously delicious, and it basically cooks itself.  I like to serve it with some fluffy mash.  The Toddster is a real mash lover.  I like to cook some greens on the ...

  Ahhhh . . . turkey, that holiday centrepiece that is so beloved by many . . .   a family tradition for Thanksgiving (if you are a North American) and Christmas (if you are a Brit).  An annual favourite and not all that hard to cook, but so often done wrong.  Today I shall attempt to put to bed some of the mysteries which surround the cooking of this fabulous bird and hopefully help to make yours this year to be the best turkey ever! I like to purchase a top quality bird for my holiday feasts, be it Thanksgiving or Christmas.  This is the one time of the year I will splurge and get a higher cost bird, and it goes without saying that I always choose free range and fresh if I can get it.  I may eat turkey minced, or in bits the rest of the year . . . but it is only this once a year that I cook the whole bird, so it is a real treat for us! (Christmas for us.) A lot of people swear by Brining . . . and others by dry brining.  I have tried both...

We love chicken in this house and it is a meat which I serve often as it is not only affordable but something which readily adapts itself to many flavours and cooking methods.   Sometimes I stuff it and roast it whole, which is very, very nice.  Not to mention you then have the leftovers to turn into delicious casseroles and lets not forget a tasty soup from the bones. More often than not though, I like to use pieces, either breasts or leg quarters, sometimes boneless, and at others bone in . . .any way you cut it, chicken is our favourite protein of choice. Today I chose to use chicken leg quarters, which I rubbed with a spice mix, drizzled with olive oil and then simply roasted in the oven until the skin was nicely crisped, whilst leaving the flesh tender and juicy.  It's one of the Toddster's favourite meals, served up with potato of some sort and vegetables.  You can't go wrong.  Kiddos love this too!  And best of all it's quick, easy, economical and...

I can still remember the first time I tasted Buttermilk. It was way back in the mid 1970's.  I think I bought some to make a cake with or something.  Buttermilk in Canada, comes in one litre containers, so it wasn't long before I was scrambling to find something else I could make with it.  Back in those days it was a lot harder. There was no internet to seek advice from!    You had to rely on word of mouth, friends and family. Over here in the UK, you only get Buttermilk in small 284ml containers, each holding about 1 1/2 cups, which is good in a way, as  you are only opening about as much as you need at any given time, but it is a pain in another way as you end up having to buy more containers and store them when you want to make something as delicious as this chicken here today. This is an old favourite of ours from those early days.   The chicken always turns out amazingly tender.  A good soaking in buttermilk is the secret to that. ...