Baked Chicken Casserole



Simple chicken casserole

I think a lot of people are scared of a casserole, but the best part about a casserole is that you can throw things in a baking dish, put it in the oven and walk away ... my favourite type of dinner - it cooks itself.

This chicken casserole is a simple one, and although I have a soft spot for tomato based ones (which I'll have to do in another entry) I like how easy this is.

 

Chicken casserole

Serves 3-4 people, depending on the serve size

 

What you will need:

5 chicken thigh fillets, halved

2 medium potatoes, quartered

1 small carrot or half a large carrot, cut into large pieces

1 small onion, cut into large chunks

Half of a medium capsicum, cut into large chunks

1 tsp garlic

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups chicken stock

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 bay leaves

2 Tbsp plain flour

Add a little bit of oil to a large pan and brown off the chicken pieces, taking them out of the pan once they have a little golden colour on them. If needed add a little bit more oil to the pan before adding the potatoes, carrots, onion and capsicum. Cook the vegetables for a couple of minute until the onion starts to turn translucent.

Pop the chicken back to the pan and then sprinkle the flour over everything and stir the flour through, cooking for another minute.  Arrange the chicken and vegetables in the casserole dish, making sure it's one with a lid. Then in a jug mix the stock, tomato paste, cayenne pepper and bay leaves, and then pour the liquid over everything in the casserole dish.

Put the lid on and then bake in the oven for an hour and a half.

Enjoy
Steph xo

Cooking with Basil

Which herb should I use?

The more people I talk to the more I realise that knowing which herbs are great with which dishes or meats isn't as common as I thought. I think the more recipes you try, the more of an idea you have because you know from experience what herbs work well. However, if you are like me and nine times out of ten you don't use a recipe (especially not for mid-week meals) then it's a case of grabbing something out of the spice rack that you know is safe.

I thought it may be an idea to look into my favourite herbs over the next few weeks, look at what they go great with and some recipes I recommend trying them with.

Basil Bruschetta makes the best
snack or lunch!

Basil

Basil is one of my favourite herbs to cook with, mainly because my Mum had such a love of Italian flavours that I grew up with it. It has a nice sweet flavour that seems to go amazingly as a rule with anything tomato. My favourite recipe to use basil in is spaghetti Bolognese, followed by bruschetta (re - which is amazing with fresh basil. However having dried basil in the pantry is especially as good. The only rule to remember cooking with dried herbs over fresh is dried herbs need time to cook off slightly to release the full flavour. So if throwing in dried basil in your Bolognese sauce make sure you add it in with your garlic - before your tomatoes - and you'll taste the difference. Where as with fresh basil in a sauce, adding it with your liquid before simmering is better.

If you want to grow basil I would recommend Thai Basil which has such an intense flavour! However, if you live in an area which experiences seasons (South-east Australia) then just keep in mind that it will die off in winter.

For me - I love basil with chicken the best. And I absolutely love basil with creamy sauces, such as a garlic sauce to go over chicken or a pasta.

Recipes I would recommend trying using basil:

• Basil Pesto - great to add to pasta, gnocchi or even pop some under the skin of a chicken breast before baking (so, so good!)
• Garlic and basil stuffed chicken
• Lemon basil chicken
• Bruschetta - There are so many recipes for this, but I like my own (a little basis I guess!) I love doing it with cherry tomatoes, halved, feta cheese, fresh roughly chopped basil leaves, and diced red onion. Put everything together and then drizzle over olive oil and balsamic vinegar, adding a little bit of pepper. I think it's best to add it on top of fresh bread, grilled slightly with garlic and butter until golden ... honestly - the best lunch or snack in the world! Depending on my mood I also like to throw in black olives (I'm hungry now!)

Do you have any herb you would like me to look into next time?

Home made tortilla wraps

I have no idea where I found this tortilla recipe. I have a feeling it's one of those recipes that is past on from someone you know,  and then you made it for so long it feels like your own. If anyone knows me I seem to be allergic to too many things, so I like making my own things so that I know exactly what goes it in - so that is why I wanted a tortilla recipe in the first place!

I love making these for tortillas or burritos with chilli mince, but they are also great wraps for lunches - with grilled chicken for a Caesar wrap, or beef strips for a Thai inspired wrap with chilli and lime dressing.

They really are easy to make, and sometimes if I don't have time I don't let them rest. Resting the dough does make them a little fluffier though, but when you are in a rush to get lunches done resting doesn't seem like a necessity. It is always better to follow the recipe step by step though!

 

Tortilla Wraps

Makes approx 6 medium tortilla wraps.

 

What you will need:

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups of warm water

That's it ... I'm not joking!

Add all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, mixing together slightly. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the oil, following by the water bit by bit. I always leave a little bit of the water out until I start to mix the mixture and can tell it's not going to be too wet. Start to mix things together with a wooden spoon, using your hands towards the end to knead things together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until the mixture feels smooth.

 

Rest for 10-15 mins before rolling out into a long sausage and cutting into 6 pieces, then roll each piece into a ball. From here simply roll out into thin-ish wraps - a couple of millimetres*. After you have rolled out your wrap sprinkle with a little bit of flour to stop them from sticky to each other as you continue to roll. This flour is also needed when we cook these off.

 

Set an non-stick electric frying pan or frying pan on the stove to a low heat. Add the wraps one at a time cooking on each side until it bubbles and turns a light golden colour in places - note it won't happen everywhere like a pikelets, so don't wait for that or it'll just turn into a crisp! You don't want to cook them too much as you want them to be flexible enough to fold. If you are finding they are sticking or cooking too much in the pan just sprinkle a little more flour over the tortilla when cooking.

Enjoy!
Steph xo
 

* If you are not sure how thin try just rolling out one as a tester, then before you go onto the rest cook it to make sure it's not too thin.

Chilli Mince - for burritos, tortillas, nachos or tacos

I've been making chilli mince for many years now, and it's slowly been adapting into what it is today. Even a year ago (when I first posted this recipe on my blog) it was slightly different. But the recipe I have now is spot on! It has to be the best chilli I have made over the years; even Mr Steph agreed.

I used to simply use a can of tomatoes and some tomato paste. The one day Mr Steph said "Why don't you use soup like you do in your bolognese?" as he just loves my spaghetti bolognese meat sauce. So I thought I'd give it a go, and it created the best mince that I ever made. And now I share this recipe with you, so that your family can love it just as much as mine.

The mince isn't a hot chilli that makes you run for milk, and if you are a chilli lover you'll be happy that it does still have a bit of bite that you'll be happy with. I know you might be thinking 'Oh, you are just saying that!', but Mr Steph is a MASSIVE chilli fan. He is the extra hot peri-peri guy at Nandos. So when I say Mr Steph doesn't say it's mild, then you know it has a bit of a bite.

As he is the chilli lover and not me I have also asked him to give it a chilli rating out of five.

Chilli Mince

Serves 6, or 5 Mr Steph hungry mouths

I get Mr Steph to give the rating for any chilli dishes as for me anything other than mild is "hot", and he thinks my rating isn't really accurate for chilli lovers.

Mr Steph's chilli rating: 2.5 / 5

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried basil

2 long red chillis

500-600g lean beef mince

1 medium onion

1 tsp garlic

1 can (410g) crushed tomatoes

1 can (420g) condensed tomato soup

2 Tbsp oil (I use rice oil, but olive or vegetable oil is just fine)

salt and pepper

Firstly measure out your herbs and spices into a little dish, and dice your onion and chilli. If the kids aren't a big fan of hot food I would only do one chilli and skip the cayenne pepper in the recipe.

In a large pot or frying pan heat up your oil over a medium to high heat. Add in your onion and chilli, cooking until the onion becomes transparent. Next brown your mince, making sure it gets a little bit of colour before you add in your herbs and garlic. Allow them to cook off for a couple of minutes before adding in the tomatoes and soup.

Now this part really depends on how long you want to cook the mince for. If you have the time to cook the mince for the full time (1 1/2 - 2 hours) then grab one of your empty cans and fill it up with water half way, adding this into your mince. If you don't have that time available see my notes below for the quick, cheat's version.

Turn your mince down to a simmer and cook it for:

• 1 - 1 1/2 hours for nachos
• 1 1/2 - 2 hours for burritos, tortillas or tacos

You cook the mince just that little bit longer for burritos, tortillas and tacos as you want it to be thick so that it isn't too "soupy". I find it being a little more like a bolognese is good for nachos.

Serve with corn chips, tortillas (or try my easy home made tortillas) or tacos, along with your favourite trimmings. For us it's sour cream and cheese for nachos; tomato, cheese, pineapple, lettuce and onion for tortillas.

Enjoy!

Steph xo

Note: If you need the chilli on the table as quick as possible, simply add in half of the soup and cook it for 30-40 mins as normal. It might not have the full flavour, but it tastes just as good. I often do the quick version during the week as I just don't have the time to cook it for longer.

Revised 9/3/2014

Easy Plum Jam - with no pectin!

This jam is so easy to throw together, and if you have wog in-laws like me a couple of kilos of things like plums is pretty normal to have arrive on your kitchen bench for no reason!

The best thing about this recipe is it doesn't use pectin and it's easy to work out ratios according to how many plums you have: for every 500g add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp of mixed spice. 

So, I had 2 kgs to use! In case ratios are not your thing - I added 2 cups of sugar and 1 tsp of mixed spice to my plums. This made about three 500g jams.

Simply add everything to a large pot and simmer on the lowest heat you have for a couple of hours until the sauce thickens and reduces, breaking down your fruit also.

... and I know that seems to simple - but it really is! Then just add to jars while still hot and seal straight away.

Enjoy!
Steph xo