REVIEW: Marinade in a bag!

I recently had the opportunity to try a new marinade by McCormick as part of the Best Recipes Test Team.



I used some chicken drumsticks and only marinated for about 3 hours and it was lovely ;-)  I imagine the flavours would be more intense the longer it marinated.  The packet was easy to open and insert the chicken.  Once sealed, it was easy to massage the marinade around the pieces.  The only negative I found was that the bag could have been a bit bigger - especially if it was to hold up to 1kg of meat as suggested.


Linking with 52 Photos Project - #35 What's Cookin - OOps - too late to submit photo, but still go visit, there are some great pics submitted ;-)

The Sticky BBQ certainly got a thumbs up from hubby and we will definitely be getting this one again.  I certainly suggest you try it when you see it in the shops.

I will keep you posted on the taste test of the Red Wine & Garlic marinade.

DISCLOSURE:  I received two free samples from McCormick via the Best Recipes Test Team.  

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.
Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Cooks Club Challenge #87 - Comfort Food

It's my turn for Cooks Club Challenge over on www.taste.com.au 
see my post   HERE

It's winter here in Australia, and it has gotten very cold, very quickly here in Adelaide.  I find I am more inclined to use the oven during this time of year – and look forward to doing roasts, using the slow cooker and a bit of baking.

So my theme this month, is Comfort Food ;-)

First up is a casserole ………… I have seen these new pre-packaged slow cooker recipe bases from Masterfoods around for a while and wanted to try one out.

I decided on Farmhouse Chicken Casserole and followed the directions and set my slow cooker in motion.  I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, as it looked a bit insipid  ;-(  but smelled okay

I used Chicken Thighs, and diced as suggested in the instructions, but would leave them whole if I used this recipe again.  The chicken was so very tender, it actually fell apart and almost disintegrated after only 5 hours.

I chopped up some potatoes and they were beautifully cooked – I have been having issues for over a year now with potatoes cooking successfully – I always seem to have some hard/raw bits in my spuds …………… not happy Jan!

When the casserole was ready to serve, I zapped up some vegetables in the microwave and mixed them in.

For those that like to start from scratch, there are several slow cooker recipes in the slow cooker thread  HERE – feel free to have a look and decide which one you would like to try.

So while the slow cooker was doing it’s thing …………. I set up the breadmaker ….. there is something extra special about using crusty bread to scoop up a yummy casserole.

After filling up on casserole and bread with lashings of butter, the only thing left to have is dessert  ;-)

It has been a while since we have had some chocolatey goodness for dessert, but we were too full.  

We will be having this Chocolate Mug Cake on the weekend – pics to come ;-)

5 minute chocolate mug cake

2 tablespoons self raising flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

1 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

Small splash of vanilla extract and your favourite tipple (optional)

Add dry ingredients to your largest mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips if using, vanilla extract and a drop or two of your favourite tipple, then mix again.

Put you mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT!

This can serve two if you want to feel slightly more virtuous. If you are feeling very naughty cover liberally in Bailey's Irish Cream.

I can’t remember where I got this recipe from – it has been written down on a piece of paper in my cupboard for I don’t know how long ;-)

I hope you continue to enjoy Cooks Club Challenges ;-)  If my suggestions are not to your liking, please feel free to share your own version of comfort food ;-)

Cook's Club Challenge - June 2011 - Indian

Cook's Club Challenge - June

New Cook's Club Challenge has started - a new butter chicken recipe for me to try ;-)

More Butter Chicken ......... ;-)

I made up another batch of Butter Chicken from ccc#7 HERE

I make it up at least once every two months and it seems to taste just that little bit different each time - always very nice though ;-)

On the weekend, we wanted a light evening meal, as it was hot and I didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking, so we had scrambled eggs & bacon on toast.

I made mine up after being influenced by something I had seen recently on a menu at a Cafe

On the menu was this particular item

• Scrambled Eggs & Bacon, topped with smoked salmon on sour dough toast .................. $24.00

It was every bit as nice as the plate of food I had seen on the table next to me, but I it didn't cost $24.00!!!

Cook's Club Challenge 54

Cook's Club Challenge 54 is up and running - go check it out!

the cajun spices for the chicken sound good

CCC #45 - My Turn again!

Challenge #45 was my turn to provide the challenge.

Here are my recipes

Stuffed Chicken Breast with prosciutto (a Weight Watchers recipe)

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 25-30 mins

Ingredients

2 x 140g chicken breast fillets, trimmed

2 thin slices (50 g) prosciutto

Filling:

2 tbs light cream cheese

2 tbs sun-dried tomato strips – finely chopped

2 tbs dried breadcrumbs

Serve with:

300 g pumpkin, peeled, cut into 2 cm cubes

3 x zucchini, cut into 2 cm slices

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200°C or 180°C fan forced.

Cut a pocket horizontally into each fillet. Combine cream cheese, tomato strips and breadcrumbs. Spread mixture into each pocket.

Wrap a piece of prosciutto around each fillet, place on a tray lined with baking paper. ** see note below for alternatives

Place the pumpkin & zucchini on a tray lined with paper and spray with oil. Bake vegetables and chicken for 25-30 minutes or until golden and cooked. Remove to warm plate, lightly cover with foil and rest chicken for 5 minutes before slicing.

The top photo is what it is supposed to look like  ;-)

Here is my slightly out of focus photos ;-)

**My Variations:
For those that like simpler tastes, bacon can be used instead of prosciutto and the sundried tomato strips can be left out – a TINY drizzle of oil may be needed to help cream cheese and breadcrumbs mix together.

This recipe works well both ways – I have the spicy version, hubby has the plain one ;-)

Smoked Salmon, Tuna, Bacon & Egg Salad
Serves: 1
30 g Smoked Salmon
1 can (95g) Sandwich Tuna (drained)
1 lge hard boiled egg
2 slices Bacon (trimmed – I use Weight Watchers)
1 Tomato (I used Roma)
Low Fat Caeser Salad Dressing
Lettuce

Method:
Boil up an egg and set aside to cool.
Chop up bacon, cook lightly, and set aside to cool.
Slice up smoked salmon, break up Tuna, chop tomato and split up the lettuce.
Place all ingredients in a bowl, drizzle caeser salad dressing over top and mix gently.

This is a very filling, tasty lunch that is great to take to work. I usually keep the ingredients separate and have the salad dressing in a small container – then I just mix it up when I am ready to eat.

If I make it when I am home, I usually eat it while the bacon & eggs are still a bit warm – Yum!

Honey Chocolate Mousse (this recipe was given to my by a friend)
Serves 6

225 g Toblerone (plus some extra to sprinkle over top)
¼ cup warm water
¾ cup cream
3 egg whites

Optional: Berries to decorate

Melt chocolate (with the ¼ cup warm water)
Beat cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.
Beat egg whites in a small bowl until stiff peaks form.
Using a metal spoon, fold egg whites into cream.
Gently fold half the cream mixture into the chocolate mixture until both are combined, then fold in remaining cream mixture. Spoon into individual dessert dishes and refrigerate approx 6 hours (usually overnight)
Just prior to serving sprinkle shaved chocolate over top and add some berries if desired.

CCC #46 - Thai BBQ Chicken

I have finally had some time for some cooking therapy!

Over on Cooks Club Challenge the challenges have been rolling on!  I can't believe how quickly time is going!

I decided to try the Thai BBQ Chicken from Challenge #46 as people were saying some really good things about it.  As at today, 26 November 2009, it is winning the vote for making it again!

As per usual for our household, I made the dish minus the garlic and used half the volume of spices.  We do have to be careful with spicy food in this house - it can go right through us IYKWIM!

This dish is a winner!  It is very tasty and the chicken was beautifully tender after marinating for 3 hours. 

I got a 'you can make this one again, love' ............ so here is another dish added to our 'faves'.  Next time I make this, I think I will 'up' the spices and use full measurements - live dangerously!

Full recipe can be found HERE as well as a lovely recipe for Apple pancakes, which will be next on the list to try!

Cook's Club Challenge #12

Here is another instalment of my experiments with the CCC#12 on http://www.taste.com.au/

I really enjoyed this one - the Australian Pumpkin soup was a real winner - I have made it several times now. it turns out slightly different each time I make it - must be the difference in pumpkin and the fact that I obviously don't measure things properly ;-)

The Custard Powder biscuits remind me so much of the 'fork' biscuits my best friend's mum used to make when we were kids. I instantly teleport back to her kitchen every time I make them.

It must have been time for another failure, as I was getting much too sure of myself. I tried the Mustard Chicken Bake. The flavour was a bit strong for us. It did not help that the potatoes were as good as raw - but then we did discover that for a few months after that, the potatoes were extremely difficult to cook and get a good result -no matter what we tried.

Cook's Club Challenge 7

in Challenge_7 I tried all three recipes

The Butter Chicken has to be my all time favourite - I make it up just for myself, with some rice, and divide and freeze in single portions.

Unfortunately, even given the number of times I have made it, I usually forget to take a photo.

Next success was the cake - very nice. Hubby liked it a lot and took some to work the next day.

My next project was to make up a pizza from scratch - not bad. I did not make up the dough, but bought some premixed dough and used that. The pizzas were OK and a bit of fun to make up with friends, but I think I will leave the pizza making to the professionals LOL
All in all, I am enjoying my Cook's Club Challenges very much.
stay tuned for the next installment.