My determination to re-start the diet yesterday was unfortunately thwarted by the fact that it was mine and C's one month wedding anniversary. This naturally called for a celebration in the shape of sausage and mash, lovely Aspall's cider and the Strictly Ballroom DVD.
Food seemed to go down well at the weekend and the pie was (I think) a success. For something I made up as I went along it seemed to work quite well.
Slow cooker chicken
1 Chicken
1 onion
1 carrot
chicken stock
1/2 bottle red wine
black pepper corns
Roughly chop the carrot and onion and use these to form a trivet in the bottom of the slow cooker - this prevents the chicken from sticking to the bottom and burning. Place the chicken on top of the veg and pour over the wine. Top up with the stock; how much will depend on the size of the slow cooker as you want to more or less cover the chicken in liquid. Add the pepper corns and any other spices or herbs you fancy. Cook on high for an hour and then low for 6.
Cooking the chicken in the way makes the cooked meat fall off the bone and getting all the bits out of the slow cooker can be a bit of a yucky job. The easiest way I've found to get it all out is to fish out the largest bits out with a ladle then take out some of the stock - this makes a wonderful sauce if you're planning on using the chicken to make a pie. I took about a litre of stock out of the slow cooker for the sauce. Once the stock's been taken out of the slow cooker I use a colander in the sink to get the rest of the chicken out.
Once the chicken's cooled enough to be handled, shred it into bite size pieces. Put the reserved stock in the fridge; this will make the stock separate into two parts, the bottom lovely, lush wine tinged chicken stock, the upper a solid lump of chicken fat - not very appetising but worth saving for cooking roasties in.
Slow cooker chicken and chorizo pie - serves 6
1 slow cooked chicken, shredded into bite size pieces
1 litre of chicken stock
45g butter
45g plain flour
Worcester sauce
balsamic vinegar
1 chorizo ring
1 red pepper
1 pack puff pastry
Melt the butter in a pan. Once it's melted add the flour to form a roux. Let this cook for a couple of minutes then begin gradually adding the stock. I've found that a silicon whisk is an absolute Godsend when doing sauces, before I got one my sauces were always lumpy messes but now I have hardly any disasters! Keep adding the stock until it's all incorporated then let it reduce down. Add a couple of splashes of Worcester sauce and the same of balsamic vinegar. I happened to have a glass or so of red wine left over so that got chucked in as well.
Chop the chorizo into slices approximately the same thickness as a pound coin. Dry fry these in batches being careful not to crowd the pan. This will release all the wonderful red, paprika spiced oil.
Quarter the red pepper and put on a baking tray with a drizzle of oil and balsamic vinegar. Put under the grill for 10 minutes.
Once the sauce is finished stir in the shredded chicken, fried chorizo and oil and the grilled pepper. Put into a pie dish and top with the rolled out puff pastry. Put in a pre-heated oven at 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for 25-30 minutes. When ready serve with whatever veggies you fancy.
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Friday 24 September 2010
Experiments with Pie
Once again I'm spending today preparing for the BWOG. As hubby, F and I are planning a day out in Tilgate Park near Crawley tomorrow I won't have much chance to cook in the day so I'm slow cooking a chicken ahead of time. The plan originally was to make chicken and bacon pie but unfortunately I forgot one vital ingredient when doing Wednesday's big shop - the bacon. So the pie has been metamorphosed into an experimental chicken and chorizo pie.
I'm cooking the chicken ahead of time in the slow cooker for a few reasons. Firstly to save on time. Secondly cooking a whole chicken in the way is more economical than using breasts which are too expensive if you're on a budget. And thirdly (and probably most importantly) it tastes nice. When I normally do it I cook it in chicken stock - when you slow cook a chicken you're essentially poaching it for hours. This time because I'm planning on teaming it up with chorizo I'm cooking it in a mixture of red wine and stock. I'll use this cooking liquid to make the sauce for the pie. I'll put up a proper recipe once it's done as at the moment I'm kind of making it up as I go along!
I'm cooking the chicken ahead of time in the slow cooker for a few reasons. Firstly to save on time. Secondly cooking a whole chicken in the way is more economical than using breasts which are too expensive if you're on a budget. And thirdly (and probably most importantly) it tastes nice. When I normally do it I cook it in chicken stock - when you slow cook a chicken you're essentially poaching it for hours. This time because I'm planning on teaming it up with chorizo I'm cooking it in a mixture of red wine and stock. I'll use this cooking liquid to make the sauce for the pie. I'll put up a proper recipe once it's done as at the moment I'm kind of making it up as I go along!
Thursday 23 September 2010
Popcorn!
I'm determined that Monday will mark the re-start of my on-again-off-again diet. I've found that following the WeightWatchers point plan works for me - I lose weight but as soon as I stop counting points I put the weight back on. I know exactly the reason behind this - I'm a snacker. I tend to snack when I get bored and as much as I love F he's not always the most stimulating conversationalist!
For the wedding I managed to lose about 2 stone in about a year and got down to my pre-F weight of 10 stone. For the first time in ages I was happy about my weight but unfortunately the wedding and then the honeymoon caused me to put some of the weight back on, a week of Full Englishes and eating out will do that to you! The chocolate afternoon was probably one of the major culprits....
Because I'm a snacker I'm trying to find some low fat alternatives to the biscuits and chocolates I normally have in. I remember reading on the WW website that popcorn was a good alternative and couldn't help but recall the wonderful toffee coated popcorn my Nan used to make for me. Just had a bit of a play and came up with this recipe.
Cinammon and mixed spice coated popcorn
80g popcorn kernals
50g low fat spread
50g brown sugar
ground cinammon
mixed spice
Put the popcorn kernals in a medium sized pan and heat with the lid on over a medium/high heat for 10-15 minutes (F was fascinated by this bit, he loved watching kernals popping all over the place) Make sure that it's stopped popping before you take the lid off or you might end up getting popped on the nose ;)
In a second pan (or in the microwave) melt the spread and sugar. Once melted add the cinammon and mixed spice.
Drizzle the spread and sugar mix over the popcorn, replace the lid and give the pan a good shake to mix.
For the wedding I managed to lose about 2 stone in about a year and got down to my pre-F weight of 10 stone. For the first time in ages I was happy about my weight but unfortunately the wedding and then the honeymoon caused me to put some of the weight back on, a week of Full Englishes and eating out will do that to you! The chocolate afternoon was probably one of the major culprits....
Because I'm a snacker I'm trying to find some low fat alternatives to the biscuits and chocolates I normally have in. I remember reading on the WW website that popcorn was a good alternative and couldn't help but recall the wonderful toffee coated popcorn my Nan used to make for me. Just had a bit of a play and came up with this recipe.
Cinammon and mixed spice coated popcorn
80g popcorn kernals
50g low fat spread
50g brown sugar
ground cinammon
mixed spice
Put the popcorn kernals in a medium sized pan and heat with the lid on over a medium/high heat for 10-15 minutes (F was fascinated by this bit, he loved watching kernals popping all over the place) Make sure that it's stopped popping before you take the lid off or you might end up getting popped on the nose ;)
In a second pan (or in the microwave) melt the spread and sugar. Once melted add the cinammon and mixed spice.
Drizzle the spread and sugar mix over the popcorn, replace the lid and give the pan a good shake to mix.
Amazing new discovery
Adventures with mince
Today, as well as making my first Blogger post, I will be starting my cooking for the weekend. We've got friends coming round for one of our semi regular Big Weekend of Gaming (or BWOG's as they've been named) and as my usual co-conspiritor in cooked isn't able to join in this time it's all down to me. The plan for Friday night is the every reliable chili. Mince is always a favourite when cooking for a crowd; it's versatile, inexpensive and good when cooking in volume. I've got a slow cooker full of mince and tomatoes on the go at the moment and from that base I can make chili, spag bol or lasagne. Plan is to stick kidney beans and spice in some tomorrow and stick the rest in the freezer for some later date.
Slow Cooker Mince
1KG mince beef
2 small or 1 large large onion
1 Carrot
Bottle of red wine (my usual method of choosing wine is going for which ever one's on special offer)
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Worcester sauce
Balsamic vinegar
In a large pan brown off the meat. While a lot of slow cooker recipes will tell you to just bung the meat straight in I prefer to brown off the mince as this helps take a lot of the fat away. I usually do this in two batches so as to not crowd the pan. Once browned put it in the slow cooker.
Chop the onion and carrot and then fry off in the same pan as the mince. Brown over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Empty onions and carrot into the slow cooker along with the tomatoes and a glass of red wine. Add a splash of worcester sauce and balsamic vinegar. Season and slow cook for 6-8 hours.
This basic recipe can be used as it is for spag bol, as the meat filling in a lasagne or with the addition of kidney beans, chilli powder and whatever other veggies you like for a lovely warming chili.
Slow Cooker Mince
1KG mince beef
2 small or 1 large large onion
1 Carrot
Bottle of red wine (my usual method of choosing wine is going for which ever one's on special offer)
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Worcester sauce
Balsamic vinegar
In a large pan brown off the meat. While a lot of slow cooker recipes will tell you to just bung the meat straight in I prefer to brown off the mince as this helps take a lot of the fat away. I usually do this in two batches so as to not crowd the pan. Once browned put it in the slow cooker.
Chop the onion and carrot and then fry off in the same pan as the mince. Brown over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Empty onions and carrot into the slow cooker along with the tomatoes and a glass of red wine. Add a splash of worcester sauce and balsamic vinegar. Season and slow cook for 6-8 hours.
This basic recipe can be used as it is for spag bol, as the meat filling in a lasagne or with the addition of kidney beans, chilli powder and whatever other veggies you like for a lovely warming chili.
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