Helen's Chicken Stew with Dumplings

Today's lunch:

Lahmacun bread brushed with a mix of butter and olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and topped with ingredients of choice:

• cherry tomatoes, fresh thyme, a sprinkling of Parmesan once out of oven
  
• roasted garlic, thyme and Parmesan
• goats cheese and thyme
• goats cheese, rosemary, cherry tomatoes and chutney
• salami and chorizo
• grated cheese
• roasted garlic and extra sea salt
  

Add any ingredients that take your fancy, making sure they can take 10 minutes in reasonably hot oven. These are also delicious for breakfast; you can add a tablespoon of sugar to the batter or not and/or topped with (after baking the buttered bread on it's own):

• Nutella and banana
• jam
• fruit coulis
• brown sugar mixed with cinnamon (bake this one in the oven)
• cream cheese and smoked salmon

The goats cheese and chutney was amazing!

Last night, we had chicken stew with dumplings, the quickest, easiest dinner which looks like you've been slaving over a hot stove for hours. We were so happy at dinner last night, sat round the table chatting away, eating up every last bit, pressing the baby potatoes and dumplings into the last of the gravy, finished off with steaming mugs of tea. After the Scotch broth for lunch, the comfort food had certainly done it's job.

Helen's Quick and Easy Chicken Stew with Dumplings

Place into a pan the following:
A half bag of baby potatoes (around 3-5 per person)
One onion, chopped large
A few shallots, whole or halved
A carrot, chopped large
2 garlic cloves
Some sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary
Half a tin plum tomatoes or a few fresh tomatoes
Any other root veg you have in the house, chopped large

Add to this a pint or enough to cover of light chicken gravy, home made or granules mixed with chicken stock. If using fresh tomatoes, add a good squeeze of tomato puree to the gravy. Add a little dash of white wine if you happen to have some open. The teabag-looking item was a bouquet garni packet I had left so I popped it in for that little bit of extra aromatic flavouring.

Bring to the boil and drop in chunks of chicken breast or thigh meat; chicken breasts into four, thighs into two. Stir, put on the lid, boil once more and then simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Prepare dumplings by placing into a bowl the following:
100g/4oz self raising flour
2oz mature cheddar cheese
1oz Parmesan (if you don't want to use this, add another ounce of cheddar instead).
Quarter teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp mustard powder
Handful of either thyme or chopped parsley
Sprinkle salt and pepper

Mix and add a beaten egg and enough water to make a sticky dough. Don't mix too much, you want it lumpy. Form into little dumplings and pour over a little oil, rubbing gently to coat each ball. Place in fridge until five minutes before needed.

Put oven on to 200 degrees Celsius/gas mark 5.

Pour stew into an oven proof dish and top with dumplings. Bake in hot oven for around 15 minutes or until dumplings golden brown or a little darker on top, depending on taste.

The dumplings will expand and stick together which is just perfect; half are soaking up the gravy, the half sticking above the top are golden and crispy. Apply three greedy, hungry wee weans, one hungry big man and try to get to the table before they polish it off, leaving you a loan potato and a carrot.
____________________________
I've had several phone calls, emails and texts asking me how I am; it's lovely that my friends take the time to do that but I find myself saying "I'm fine" even though I still feel poorly. Is it a mum thing, a Scottish thing or a woman thing that after 7 days of illness, I feel frustrated with my inability to get better quickly and I feel like such a fraud. Come on, flu, go already!

I want to walk up a hill, go shopping and take the kids swimming desperately. It's their holiday week; not that they've complained, I don't think they can quite believe their luck what with the jammies on for as long as they want, mum on tap, vid games, computer and dvds galore. It's been a nice week, considering.

Tomorrow, we plan to hit the cinema to see 'Up'; I'm hoping my coughing has subsided by then as I really want to see it and can't if all I'll end up doing is disturbing everyone around me. Tomorrow is another day, I could leap out of bed, restored and well! Karmic thoughts, people, karmic thoughts.

Karen and Anne

I've just been to the pub (guess which one) with the gorgeous Karen and Anne. It's now past midnight but I promised lamb koftas and lamb koftas you shall get, Karen, my friend!

Tomorrow, we are going away with a few other families to a lovely house in St. Abbs near North Berwick, Scotland. I've been cooking up a storm all day and have so far came up with caramelised onions, roast lamb, what looks like a thousand filo pastry muffins with a variety of fillings including goats cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, cheddar cheese, Parmesan etc. They look and taste lovely. These are the easiest but most impressive looking little starter dish; you basically cut filo pastry into squares then oil the muffin tin, place in the first filo layer and press it down, brush with butter or oil (I used olive oil) and repeat four to five times. Don't worry about the edges, the rougher the better. Then fill.

My first filling was tomatoes, salt and pepper, goats cheese, some fresh thyme and rosemary. The second batch was similar but with caramelised onions...you get the idea. Anything you want. Then, for every batch, pour the following mix in carefully...1 egg, about 4 fl. oz. double cream and a huge handful Parmesan cheese; whisk together and pour into each muffin until half to three quarters filled. Bake in oven at 170 degrees celsius for around 10-15 minutes...basically, as soon as they go brown and the cheese is bubbling and golden. Keep your eye on them after the first then minutes.

Wonderful munch...scooby snacks....crunch...

Lamb koftas were made to go alongside the roast lamb. I'm going to make my homemade bbq sauce in the morning but this time I'm going to add ground fennel and star anise...oh yes, my friend, time for some good old experimentation! I'll report back of course.

The bbq sauce will be brushed atop of the lamb for the last ten minutes of cooking and also used to brush over the lamb koftas.

Lamb Koftas
* 500g minced lamb
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* 2 tsp ground coriander
* 2 fat garlic cloves , crushed
* 1 tbsp chopped mint
* oil for brushing
Mix together all the ingredients until well blended. Divide into 6 balls, then roll each ball on a board with a cupped hand to turn them into ovals. Don't worry if they look more like lumpy brains...

Thread onto 6 skewers and brush with oil. I shall also be brushing it with bbq sauce at the last minute.

To cook on a griddle: heat the pan until you can feel a good heat rising and cook for 3-4 mins each side. Don't turn until they are well sealed or the meat will stick to the grill or pan. Season if you want, and set aside. Serve the koftas with yogurt and spiced flat breads or as I plan to do, tsatziki, pitta bread and a whole host of other accompaniments.
To BBQ:
Put the meat skewers on the grill over a medium heat for about 3-4 mins each side.
BTW...140 calories per Kofta!!
I've not cooked these before so I'm a little premature in posting the recipe...I can't see how it could possibly go wrong though.... ;O) Good luck Karen.

I'll post the other recipes when I return my lovely blogger friends. I leave you with some photos...far too many photos...of my filo muffins.

Pasta Supper

Want a really quick, tasty but low fat (and cheap) pasta supper? Then try the following recipe I just made for my tea; it was really good, it took 10 minutes to cook, preparation was minimal and I couldn't eat it all as it was incredibly filling.
Pasta Supper
4 Tomatoes (or more) cut into quarters
Pesto (yes, I know but I love the stuff and I made A LOT!)
Goats Cheese
Salt and Pepper
Spaghetti (100g)

Put oven on to around 200 Celsius
Drizzle pesto over tomatoes, around a tablespoon and add sea salt & black pepper.
Crumble over a little goats cheese to taste...feta would work just as well.
Place in oven. After around 5 or so minutes, put water on to boil for spaghetti. Cook spaghetti as per instructions and drain.
Take tomatoes out of oven and blend 3/4 of them in a blender...if no blender then mash with a fork.
Pour blended mix over spaghetti and bowl up! Arrange the remaining tomatoes around the plate. Enjoy.


I'm not a calorie counter...life is too short, right? However, I'd say I'm more aware these days and for future reference, I've worked out that this pasta comes to 458 calories for the full serving. See the following breakdown:
350 calories for 100g uncooked spaghetti
0 calories for tomatoes
58 calories in pesto although as you are all well aware, mine was made without pine nuts!
50 calories for the goats cheese (the creamy kind, used around 25g)
Total calories 458 which is pretty good going; I didn't finish mine tonight as it was too much. The amount of sauce was enough for 2 so if you were to add another 50g pasta then the total for two would be 633 or 316 per serving. No wonder I'm losing weight.

The approx. cost of this per serving is 55 pence. Yup, you heard right.
Asda Spaghetti on offer at 2 for £1, 1kg pasta. Per 150g therefore is 15 pence.
Tomatoes approx. 14 pence each x 4=56 pence
Goats cheese cost 25p (Asda £10 per kg)
Pesto I'm just going to estimate at 15 pence per tablespoon although it could well be less.
Total Cost=£1.11/2= 55 pence per serving!! Goodness...who says you can't eat well for less?

Pasta!

I have occasionally bought cold pasta from the supermarket which tastes like feet and doesn't last long so I decided to come up with my own. I wanted a dish that was lovely whilst hot but just as good cold. This is the best so far.

250g Penne Pasta
1 roll soft goats cheese (packet from Asda)
Rind and juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons (or more) of grated parmesan
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed to use, stalks discarded

Cook the penne as per instructions. Drain and add all of the above ingredients; use only half of the goats cheese though, chopped up. Mix all the ingredients through and then crumble over the remaining goats cheese, some extra parmesan and a grinding of salt and pepper.