Super Quick Roast Chicken Fried Rice

The arrival of my baby daughter two weeks ago, means that the blog hasn't been updated in a while, and posts will probably be less frequent in the immediate future as me and my little angel find our feet. She fell into a deep sleep this evening, so I grabbed the opportunity to pull together a quick dinner and photograph it also for the blog. Result! She's such a good little girl!
This recipe is a simple throw-together quick supper for leftover chicken, packed full of spice and flavour! I'm  forever trying to come up with new ways with my leftover roast chicken; and this simple chicken fried rice ticks all the boxes. It's easy, quick, and satisfying. The perfect supper to eat in a bowl curled up on the sofa watching TV after work.

By using the egg as a basket or base to the the dish is a nice twist, instead of breaking the eggs directly into the fried rice dish, sometimes I find that method a results in a 'mushy' rice.

Serves 2 (and allows for seconds)

Ingredients

• Leftover roast chicken pieces
• 2 Carrots, peeled and diced
• 100g of frozen peas
• 8 mushrooms diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of basmati rice
• 2 cups of tap water
• 4 eggs (2 per person)
• 3 tbsp Stir fry oil
• 1 tbsp Sesame oil
• Soy sauce, as preferred, (I like a lot)
• 1/4 tsp Chilli Paste
• Sweet chilli sauce to serve

Method

1. Cook the rice in a pan with the water over a medium heat for 10 minutes. (Its best to cook the rice a little while before the rest of the dish to allow the rice to cool)
2. Add 1 tbsp of stir fry oil to a hot wok. Add the garlic, chilli paste, and ginger and stir.
3. Add in the peas, carrots, mushrooms and pepper and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the chicken to warm through. Stir through the sesame oil and season with the soy sauce.
5. Add the rice and thoroughly combine.
6. In a frying pan, add another tbsp of stir fry oil.
7. Break 2 eggs into a cup and whisk quickly with a fork.
8. Add the eggs to the hot pan and swirl around so the base of the pan is evenly coated with the eggs.
9. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes and turn over for a final 30 seconds. (should resemble a pancake)
10. Remove from the pan and keep warm, and repeat the process with the remaining 2 eggs, for the second portion.
11. To serve, place the warm fried egg into a bowl, and top with the fried rice.
12. Serve with extra soy and sweet chilli sauce.

Quick Apple, Blueberry & Almond Cake

Following watching an episode of Donna Hay's Fast Fresh & Simple cookery programme, I couldn't wait to try out her recipe for what seems to me to be the easiest cake you'll ever make. The only tweak to the recipe is that I've added some flaked almonds for some crunch to the topping, the rest is Donna Hay's.

I'm calling this my Waiting for Baby cake!!! Tomorrow is my baby due date so I wanted to keep myself busy in the kitchen without over exerting myself at this point; so I thought this recipe would be perfect, quick and easy and not too much waddling involved, plus there's the tasty treat at the end! You gotta keep the energy levels up you know!!

Ingredients

Cake Mix

• 225g self raising flour
• 165g caster sugar
• 125ml milk
• 125g soft butter
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

Topping

• 1 apple, sliced thinly
• 100g of blueberries
• 25g of flaked almonds
• Demerara sugar for sprinkling

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line a spring form tin
2. In a food mixer, add all the cake mix ingredients and mix on low until combined
3. Scrape it into the cake tin and level it out evenly
4. Top with the apple slices evenly and scatter over the almonds and blueberries
5. Finally sprinkle with the demerara sugar and bake in the oven for 45 mins.
6. Check that the cake is fully baked with a skewer before removing from the oven (Insert skewer to centre of cake if it comes out clean it's done, if not bake for a further 5 mins and try again)
7. Leave to cool on a wire rack before gobbling the whole thing up.

This is either perfect for afternoon tea or served warm with ice-cream as a great dessert for a dinner party.

Delicious - Donna Hay....I salute you!

Easter Chocolate Bark

I had my little niece over this afternoon and we went 'barking mad', making up all sorts of chocolate bark concoctions.

These barks are childsplay to make and can be made to suit grown-up tastes or also can be made using any type of sweets and candy that kiddies love. I found that marshmallows went down a treat with the little one!!!!

There really is nothing to this recipe; simply melt the chocolate and sprinkle over the ingredients you fancy. We chose for this particular outing to do a kiddies version and a more sophisticated version.

Marshmallow & Candy Bark





Ingredients

• 30g of mini marshmallows
• 1 packet of Nestle Smarties
• 1 small packet of Cabury's Mini Eggs
• 1 Cabury's Crunchie bar, crushed.
• 250g of plain chocolate.

Method

1. Break up the chocolate and put in a heat proof bowl, which is over some simmering water. Allow to melt fully.
2. Get a baking tray and rub some oil dipped in kitchen towel.
3. Then line the tray with baking parchment and rub the parchment paper with some of the kitchen towel soaked in oil
4. Stir the marshmallows into the chocolate then pour the chocolate out over the tray evenly distributing it.
5. (This is where the kiddies come in) Scatter the chocolate with the desired candy treats.
6. Place the baking tray in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up, or if (like me) you are terribly impatient, place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
7. The idea of the bark is to look a bit rustic and messy, so cut shards in at uneven angles for that homemade look.
8. The chocolate bark will keep up to 3 days in an air tight container in the fridge; though I severely doubt they would last 3 hours.

Sweet Cranberry & Pistachio White Chocolate Bark

This more sophisticated bark is more for the adult audience and would be ideal to serve to guests with coffee at the end of a dinner party. The method is the same as outlined above, just substitute the white chocolate for the dark chocolate and omit the marshmallows and candies and instead use 1/2 cup of sweet dried cranberries and 1/2 cup of peeled chopped pistachio nuts.

You can experiment with whatever flavours you wish, using perhaps mint chocolate instead of plain chocolate; using cut up pieces of your favourite chocolate bars, any dried fruits or you could just go for full on nutty mode with nothing but nuts. The combinations and choices are endless.

No Butter Banana & Walnut Loaf

I love bread, all different types of bread; but I'm only too aware of the quantity of butter used to make bread so darn tasty. I've been trying for a few weeks now to come up with a banana bread (and a carrot cake) that doesn't require butter or oil. I've had a few mishaps but I think I've finally cracked it.

This bread recipe uses buttermilk instead of butter and oil. Buttermilk is wonderful low in fat, but helps to keep the bread really moist. I've tried this recipe with the buttermilk and no oil; then 1 tablespoon of oil; but I think it really does require 2 tablespoons of oil to maintain the moistness. Sure, 2 tablespoons of oil never killed anyone, especially for a whole loaf of bread.

When making this recipe it's very important to use blackened bananas; the flavour from overripe bananas is so much better than just ripe bananas.The walnuts also not only add a wonderful texture to the bread, but also a fantastic nutty flavour.

(mashed bananas, not so attractive when mixed with the buttermilk & oil, but don't be fooled...)

This recipe is super fast to make in a food processor; with very little elbow grease required. It's nearly too easy.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 170g of caster sugar
• 165g of flour
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 80ml of buttermilk
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate powder
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 100g of chopped walnuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a 1lb loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Add the eggs and sugar to the food processor and whizz for three minutes
3. Meanwhile, add the oil, buttermilk and vanilla to the mashed bananas and incorporate them together.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the food processor and whizz until combined.
5. Then add the flourt, baking powder and the bicarbonate soda to the processor and pulse until nicely combined (careful not to over process at this stage)
6. Gently fold in the chopped nuts and transfer the cake mixture to the loaf tin.
7. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes (check that it's fully baked by inserting a skewer into the centre of the loaf and if it comes out clean then the bread is ready, if its a little sticky, bake for a further 5-10 minutes and repeat the skewer step)
8. Cool in the tin on a wire rack.

Low Fat Mexican Turkey Bean Burgers

Burgers are reserved for treat days and not something I would indulge in every week. However these turkey bean burgers are super healthy, low in fat and full of protein; you could eat them everyday of the week if you wished!!!!

This recipe is super quick using a food processor, and the mixture can be frozen also, making it super convenient to have healthy burgers close by; guilt free!

Ingredients

• 370g of diced turkey breast
• 400g tin of kidney beans (or black eyed beans would work well too)
• 3 tsp of chipolte paste
• 8 slices of spicy jalapeno pepper
• 1 brown onion, sliced
• 1 slice of wholegrain bread
• Salt/pepper
• 4 spring onions, sliced thinly
• 4 tbsp of chopped coriander

Method

1. In a food processor, add the onion and the bread and pulse until combined.
2. Then add the beans, tukey,salt, pepper, chipolte paste, and jalapenos.
3. Blitz the ingredients until smooth
4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and refrigerate for an hour.
5. Mix in the fresh herbs and the spring onions to the turkey mixutre.
6. With wet hands, mould the burgers into the desired size or use a measuring ring. (you can make mini burgers, or whoppers; the choice is yours). I'm making 2 burgers and freezing the rest for a future dinner.
7. Place the burgers on baking paper.
8. Cook in an oven preheated to 200 degrees, until cooked through (depending on their size, mine took 30 minutes)

Best accompanied with spicy potato wedges and homemade guacamole, or spicy pink sauce made with shop bought salsa and mayo.

Rachel's Apricot & Oats Flapjack Squares

Rainy days were meant for baking and pottering around the kitchen I've always believed! So with today being particularly miserable outside, I set about busying myself with some baking. 

With our first newborn baby due to arrive any day, I'm busy getting the house in order and the freezer packed with frozen meals. The freezer is full to the gills with tubber ware boxes of stews, shepherd's pies, and lasagnas  So to be fair, I'm fairly well prepared. But I thought to myself, its fine to have the dinners ready, but what about healthy snacks in between meals?! I'm under no illusion that for the first few weeks I won't have any time to be baking buns and bars; so I  thought today, why not make some healthy, high energy flapjacks and freeze them for when the baby comes. That way a healthy energy boost is never too far away, plus it might keep me away from chocolate bars also.

I have made and blogged about flapjacks in the past http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.ie/2013/01/nuts-about-seedy-fig-flapjacks.html ; but this time I'm making Rachel Allen's Chewy Apricot and Oats Flapjacks which I stumbled across on her website. The only thing different I added to her recipe is 100g of sesame seeds. (LOVE the sesame seeds!). I also substituted low fat spread for full fat butter in the recipe. 

The flapjacks may have a lot of sugar, syrup and butter; but they also have a large quantity of oats and seeds and dried fruit; all of which are extremely healthy. Plus a little goes a long way, I've cut them up small as with all those high energy ingredients, you don't need to eat too much of them to get the desired energy boost.

Ingredients

• 300g/11oz porridge oats

• 100g/4oz pumpkin or sunflower seeds & 100g/4oz sesame seeds.

• 50g/2oz desiccated coconut

• 50g/2oz plain flour 

• 200g/7oz low fat butter spread

• 200g/7oz golden syrup 

• 150g/5oz soft brown sugar

• 150g/5oz dried apricots, chopped 

• 125g/4.5oz crunchy peanut butter 

• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. 

2. Line an 18cm/7inx28cm/11in Swiss roll tin with non-stick baking parchment, leaving a little of the parchment hanging over the edges for easy removal later.

3. Place the oats, seeds, coconut and flour into a large bowl and mix together.

 
4. Place the butter and golden syrup into a saucepan and cook until the two ingredients have melted and combined. 

5. Add the sugar, chopped apricots, peanut butter and vanilla extract to the saucepan and mix well. Then pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix together until the ingredients have become evenly combined.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and press down firmly with a wooden spoon. Transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the mixture has become golden-brown and slightly firm. Remove the mixture from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin. 

7. Once the mixture has cooled remove it, and, still in the paper, cut it into squares.

8. Store in an air-tight container for up to one week. If freezing, to defrost just removed the desired quantity before bedtime and place in the fridge.

Healthy Spotted Dog

I make Spotted Dog every morning when in peak season in the B&B; my guests love it and so does my family. It's a wonderful recipe I learned whilst attending a cookery course in Ballymaloe by the famous Darina Allen.

This is a fabulous Irish recipe, perfect to share with the readers in the lead up to St Patrick's Day. Ever the health conscious I've tweaked the original recipe just a little to make the bread a little healthier; which will help with the guilt of overeating it.

Spotted dog is wonderful with lashings of Kerrygold Butter (now softer) and Strawberrry jam, when fresh from the oven. But my own personal favorite way of having this bread is with Kerrygold butter and chunks of Mature Irish Cheddar Cheese and some creamy homemade coleslaw.

The trick to getting a fantastic light bread is all in the technique of lifting the flour and adding air into the dough; do not skip or slack on this step, Spotted Dog is sometimes called a cake of bread so treat the dough with the same care as you would treat a cake.

The bread freezes well too, sometimes I like to make two to three cakes of spotted dog; and when they are completely cooled, I half them and wrap them well in tin foil and freezer bags and throw them into the freezer. To defrost for a lovely breakfast bread at the weekends when it's just myself and my husband; I just take the half loaf out of the freezer and let it defrost on the counter top overnight.

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour
• 250g of wholemeal flour
• 350ml of buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate soda
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 100g of sultanas
• 20g of porrigde oats

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl with the bicarbonate soda, sugar, salt and sultanas.
3. Lift the mixture with your fingers, allowing the flour mixture to fallen between your fingers, this adds air to the flour and as mentioned above is a critical step in getting a nice light bread. Do this 10 times or so.
4. Mix the buttermilk and the egg together in a jug.
5. Making a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquid.
6. Mix to combine, taking care not to over mix.
7. Turn out onto the counter and mould gently into a round shape.
8. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
9. Cut a cross in the cake with a sharp knife (Irish folklore says this is so the fairies can escape)
10. Top the cake with the porridge oats and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
11. After 20 minutes turn the oven down to 200 degrees and bake for a further 30 minutes.
12. Cool on a wire rack.

The bread doesn't keep very well over a few days; though I doubt there'll be any trouble in finishing it off in a day.

There's nothing more Irish than homemade soda bread; so why don't you try this recipe for St Patrick's Day.

(Above:Serving suggestion from Kerrygold Butter, Now Softer)

Wherever you are in the world Lá Fhéile Padriag Shona Daoibh; have a good one!

Don't forget to check out my recipe for a good strong Irish Coffee..http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.ie/2012/03/best-irish-coffee.html

Go on, go on, go on!!