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Chicken Kiev Recipe and Win a Garlic Crusher

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Today I’m bringing you two wonderful things. My recipe for our favourite Chicken Kiev and the chance to win a Garlic Crusher from Oliver’s Kitchen.

The competition prize is being provided from Oliver’s Kitchen and you can enter at the end of this post. It’s the best Garlic crusher I’ve ever had, as soon as I took it from the box I knew it was built to last. It’s heavy, smart and does the job beautifully.

garlic crusher from Oliver's Kitchen.

You can win one of these too in my latest competition. It’s currently out of stock on the website but you can buy one on Amazon for £14.99.

Chicken Kiev Recipe

My favourite garlic based recipe is Chicken Kiev and I like to make it at home. It’s a lot easier than you think.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Chicken breasts with skin removed

For the garlic herb butter

  • 3-4 tbsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 3-4 tbsp freshly chopped chives
  • 115g soft butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • salt and pepper

For the Kiev coating

  • 50g/2oz plain flour
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 175g/6oz natural breadcrumbs
  • oil for frying

Method

First make the garlic butter filling. Add the herbs to the butter along with the garlic and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix together with a fork.

Divide the butter into four and using cold hands (run them under the cold tap) roll them into bullet shapes. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Take your chicken breast and lifting the fillet part up, cut through about two thirds of the breast.

Unwrap your butter bullets and place them inside your chicken breast, pulling your fillet part down to fully seal the butter.

Put a pan of oil on to warm up.

Beat the 4 eggs up in a bowl. fill another bowl with the flour and a third bowl with the bread crumbs.

Take each breast and place in the flour bowl until coated, then place in the egg until coated and finally in the breadcrumbs. Make sure each piece is completely covered.

Gently put the chicken into the fat until golden then remove and place on a baking tray.

Pop into the oven on 170 degrees for a further 15 minutes (keep an eye on them and take them out if they start to leak.) Let them rest.

We serve our chicken kievs with pasta, when you cut open the chicken the garlic, herb butter sauce dribbles all over the pasta. You can also serve them with rice or potatoes.

What do you serve your Chicken Kievs with?

Win an Oliver’s Kitchen Garlic Crusher

Now you can own an Oliver’s Kitchen Garlic Crusher yourself by entering my competition using the widget below.

garlic crusher and garlic bulb

Oliver’s Kitchen is a family run website that promises to bring you the best kitchenware, sourced with love with fast hassle free delivery and loved by their customers with over 2000 five star ratings. Go to the site and join the club for some fantastic offers in your e-mail.

Now before the competition here’s a few

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

  • The competition prize is a Garlic Crusher from Oliver’s Kitchen
  • The winner must be living in the UK
  • No information is collected other than for contacting the winner
  • The prize cannot be exchanged for cash
  • The competition starts on 7th July and finishes on 9th August
  • Prize winner will be selected from the widget.
  • Not all parts of the competition need to be completed, but you need to have completed the part you have been selected for if you win.
  • Winners will be contacted by e-mail
  • Oliver’s Kitchen is responsible for the prize

Here’s the widget to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you seen my recipe for Mapo Tofu Curry?

Dining Pretty with Debenhams this Christmas

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Christmas is coming, the family is popping around and you take a look at your crockery and think that maybe you need a new set? I know I did, I had so many chipped plates, only tiny chips, but I’m really clumsy lately and just knocking them together causes chipping. Now I have a dishwasher, I no longer have to worry about the washing up and clinking my plates together (or even dropping them in the sink, as I have been known to have done.) Even the kids are keen to put their plates in the dishwasher, so now I’m hoping that chips will be thing of the past.

I still needed a new dinner service though and I was given a gift voucher from Debenhams so I decided to look on their website. A lot of Debenhams Dinner Sets are on offer at the moment, so it’s a great place to pick up a bargain.

I decided to go for this Blue Leaf Print Dinner Set.

I also bought some new cutlery and place mats, plus coasters. I was really happy with the choice offered by Debenhams at such reasonable prices.

Now I’m thinking of a nice table cloth for Christmas, I love this Christmas tree one, it’s so classy and would go with any colour of tableware

And if you wanted to really spruce up your Christmas table you could always add this gorgeous silver runner. You need a little bling at Christmas time.
Finally, what about cooking? Do you find yourself eating turkey for days after Christmas? While on the Debenhams site I also treated myself to this Morphy Richards Sear and Stew Slow Cooker.
I’ve found this recipe for turkey leftovers which I’m going to try.

Christmas Casserole

Ingredients 
Serves: 6
500g (approx) leftover turkey
2 leeks
50g butter
2 tablespoons red wine
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
2 bay leaves
Method
Prep:20min  ›  Cook:2hr  ›  Ready in:2hr20min
1. Switch slow cooker onto High. Melt butter in large pan, add sliced leeks, season with salt and freshly grated black pepper and cook gently until softened. Spread evenly across base of slow cooker.
2. Strip turkey of remaining meat and (at last) throw carcass out – unless making soup. Cut turkey into bite-sized pieces. Heat olive oil in same pan, add crushed garlic and cook gently, adding turkey pieces as it starts to sizzle. Stirfry for 10 minutes, add bay leaves and cranberry sauce then place on top of the leeks.
3. Switch slow cooker to auto or low, gently pour over the red wine and leave to cook until needed. I find about 2 hours is fine but will keep for hours on the low setting. Stir in cream just before serving. Perfect, served with potatoes of choice, for a hungry family returning from a winters walk

Are you table ready for Christmas? Do you have special crockery or tableware that you save for Christmas?



Disclosure: I was sent a slow cooker and a gift voucher in return for writing this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Recipe from All Recipies

The Great British Bake Off – Chocolate Molten Puddings

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This week it was pudding week on The Great British Bake Off. We had steamed puddings for signature bakes, molten chocolate puddings for technical and Trifles for show stopper bakes.
Now my  miserable family are not keen on puddings unless they are chocolate so I didn’t have much choice but to go for the molten chocolate puddings for my bake.

The next problem was…there are seven of us and most recipes for individual puddings were for 4 or six. So I had to do some adjusting and my recipe makes seven puddings, made in regular ramekins.

If I’m honest, they were not perfect to look at, but they did pass the taste test.

I added a little white chocolate to the kids puddings, both in the middle and on top. For the adults we had to make do with dark chocolate because the white didn’t go very far (or it may have got eaten by a family member when I left it in the fridge!)

molten chocolate pudding
 
As you can see, the white chocolate in the middle was trying it’s best to escape before I took a photo. This was the best of the batch of three, the others had already oozed out. I didn’t manage to make a neat job of spooning the white chocolate on the top either. Trust me, these puddings are alive, they ooze, they collapse they fall apart, all before you get the chance of a good shot….but they tasted yummy. I give them 10 for taste and 1 for presentation!
 
 
I’m not sure if you can tell by this photo but the sponge was light and fluffy and the inside gooey. Isn’t that the objective? Okay, I guess looking nice would be good too.
 
 
 

The other puddings fared even worse for presentation…it’s a minus 4 from me! As soon as I took them out of the ramekins they collapsed as the middle bit oozed out. Too much chocolate maybe? I think they might have needed a little more cooking. I was under the impression that they had to be served straight from the oven, which I’m sure contributed to them breaking up.

Here is my recipe (if you want it!)

Chocolate Molten Puddings

Ingredients:

  • 200g butter
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 100g white chocolate (if adding)
  • 5 eggs
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 75gg self raising flour
  • tbs of cocoa powder.

Method:

  • Melt the dark chocolate and butter in bowl over a pan of hot water. (or carefully in the microwave) set aside to cool
  • in a large bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and light
  • fold the chocolate into the egg mixture
  • add the flour and cocoa powder and fold in
  • grease 7 ramekin moulds
  • divide the mixture between the moulds place on a baking tray. If adding white chocolate put a chunk into the top of the mixture, no need to push it in as it will sink while baking.
  • bake in a pre-heated oven 180C/gas mark 4 for 10 – 12 minutes
  • when baked, loosen the puddings and turn out carefully onto serving plates.
Serve them with cream or melted white chocolate sauce.
 
Mummy Mishaps
 



Triple Slow Cooker and Warming Station – Review and Recipe

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I’ve never owned a slow cooker, it’s just one of those appliances I’ve never felt the need to buy. When I was given the opportunity to review this Bella Triple Slow Cooker I thought, why not, let’s see what the fuss is about

Now, I’ll admit that initially I thought the purpose of slow cookers were to put your dinner on before going to work and it would be ready when you got home. I had two problems with this,

  • who has the time to prepare a meal first thing in the morning
  • I don’t like the idea of leaving something cooking at home when there is no-one there (I’m terrified of fire!)
I prepared a meal for the slow cooker and it involved a little browning of the meat which took 5 mins and the preparation of vegetables (which can be done anytime really.) Then I threw it in the pot with the herbs and spices etc and the whole thing took less than 10 mins. With pre-prep you could have it ready a lot sooner, in fact you could have it ready in the pot the night before and just turn it on in the morning.
I still don’t have an answer for the second one, although they do seem pretty safe. I kept an eye on mine all day and it never got really hot, or the liquid spill over. 
Since using a slow cooker I’ve discovered that it’s much more than having a meal ready when you get home from work. It’s a great way of just throwing stuff together and ending up with a great meal with little effort. The meat cooks so slow that it’s always really tender and you can get away with using tougher cuts of meat which are generally cheaper. 
Apparently you can cook cakes and desserts too, I might have to try that one day, it would be nice to have desert cooked for eating straight after dinner.
This three pot slow cooker is a little different to your usual slow cooker as it has three pots and most have only one. Each pot can hold 1.3 litres which is pretty good. A lot of the smaller slow cookers only hold 1 to 1.5 litres, although you can buy really big family size ones. It was suggested that one pot holds enough for 2-3 people and I found that about right, although we did get four small servings out of one pot. If you need to cook for more you can cook in two pots! 
An advantage of having three pots to cook in is that you can do three different meals. You’d need to be cooking for a large family though. I did try two different curries in two pots and this worked fine. I have a big household of 4 adults and 3 children and we don’t all like the same food so this is going to be handy.
We also often eat at different times which when this slow cooker really comes in handy. It will keep your food warm until ready to serve, so you can  you just help yourself whenever you need to. I found that when I did the two curries, I also made some rice and when it was cooked I put it in the third pot on warm. Perfect curry night!
It would also be great for entertaining, you can keep three meals warm and guests can just help themselves. 

Bella Triple Slow Cooker and Warming Station

So lets get down to the nitty gritty of the product. The Three Pot Slow Cooker is pretty big so make sure you have room for it. 
It is 56.4cm long, 26.5cm wide and 20cm high and it weighs 8kg. 
As I said each pot holds 1.3  litres which is enough for 2-3 good servings. 
Each pot has it’s own controls, Off, Low, High, Warm. 
The pots are good quality stoneware and are easy to wash. (They are stated to be dishwasher safe but I don’t have a dishwasher so I can’t really comment on that.)
They each have a spoon rest too which helps with keeping the area clean and tidy. 
The lids of each pot are glass and there is a holder for each lid when you are ready for serving.
It’s ideal for entertaining with buffet style serving and a keep warm option.
The product comes with an instruction manual with five recipes to get  you started.
You can purchase the Bella Triple Slow Cooker on Amazon for £54.99 (it’s currently on sale)

Recipe – Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs tomato ketchup
100 ml orange juice
1 tbs cornflour
2 tbs cider vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs fresh grated ginger
1 220g can pineapple chunks
1 green pepper, sliced
rice to serve.
Method:
Fry the chicken until it is browned (about 5 mins)
put all the ingredients into the slow cooker pot
turn to Low and leave for 6-7 hours
stir occasionally after 2 hours
Serve with rice.
So, so easy and incredibly delicious, this is the nicest sweet and sour I’ve ever cooked. It was even nicer than the one I had from the take-away restaurant last week!.
Disclosure: I was sent the Triple Slow Cooker for the purpose of this review, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Toe Nail Dusted Sweet Cakes recipe

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You asked – I made them…enjoy!

This is a recipe from the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook which I am giving away three copies of in my prize draw which ends on 29th November..see widget below for entry.

I asked what my readers would like to me to make from the book and had an overwhelming response for Toe Nail Dusted Sweet Cakes, so here they are.

First though, make sure you have a jar of Truly Disgusting Toe Nail Crumbs in a jar on your kitchen shelf like I do.

Toenail-Dusted Sweet Cakes



“In the past, nose-to-tail -end hunters would source and dismember whole humans – and Toenail Cakes were a great way to use up every last scrap. A full set of fungus-infested toenails was considered a real treat and the original recipe introduced them to the dessert menu. Most tribes now buy pre-packaged joints and cuts, so this updated recipe is for those who don’t have easy access to truly disgusting toenails.”


Ingredients:

  • 125g unsalted soft butter
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 250g self-raising flour, sifted
  • pinch of salt
  • 4 tbs milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
coating

  • 400g icing sugar
  • 100g cocoa powder
  • 150-175 ml boiling water
  • 200g desiccated coconut

Method:

Grease an 18 x 25cm cake tin and line with nonstick baking paper
Beat together the butter and caster sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy
Gradually incorporate the eggs, adding a little flour to prevent the mixture from curdling
Add the flour and salt and fold in with the milk and vanilla extract.
Turn into prepared tin and level the surface.
Bake in a preheated over for 25-30 minutes until risen and firm to the touch.
Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out to cool further
Sift the icing sugar and the cocoa powder into a bowl.
Make a well in the centre and beat in enough fo the boiling water to form a smooth icing with pouring consistancy.
Dip the top of each cake into the icing and then coat with the coconut.
Leave to set.
The question can be found in the Rafflecopter Gadget and you can answer in the comments. If you answer in the comments you do not have to fill in the gadget but it will give you more entries into the competion.
Rules: 
UK only, sorry
Please make sure you leave me your e-mail for contacting the winners
Winners will be chosen at random
The rafflecopter gadget will appear on other posts but you only need to fill it in once
No prize alternative will be offered
Prizes will be sent out by Hoxton Street Monster Supplies
Raisiebay will not be responsible for unreceived prizes
Prizes must be claimed within 28 days after the close of the competition.
Competition will close on November 29th 2016
All entries will be checked

a Rafflecopter giveaway