Chicken Margherita

Ooo this was yummy, light to eat and oh so easy. Being the talented (ahem!) mother that I am, I actually made this dish into three different ones - one for the adults (MrL and I), one for the child (being Monet) and one for the toddler (being Lily). It was absolutely not a pain changing it for each group.

The adults recipe is the one that follows the main recipe. (However I couldn't find any bocconcini cheese and had some brie in the fridge so used that instead.) For the Monet version, I excluded the tomato, the spinach and the bocconcini, but instead still used the pesto and added cheddar cheese, then wrapped the chicken in streaky bacon. For the Lily version I just pulled it all apart so she had a bit of bacon, some cheese chunks, some cooked chicken breast which had a bit of pesto on it. Most of it was eaten - always a good sign.

Chicken Margherita

Taken from page 286, Women's Weekly FAST chunky book. (published 2009)

Ingredients
550g baby vine-ripened truss tomatoes
4 x 200g chicken breast fillets
1/3 cup basil pesto
180g bocconcini cheese
20g baby spinach leaves
8 slices prosciutto (120g)

Method
Preheat oven to 200C fan-forced.

Remove four tomatoes from truss; slice thinly.

Split one chicken fillet in half horizontally; open out. Spread one tablespoon of pesto on one side of chicken fillet; top with a quarter of the cheese, a quarter of the sliced tomato and a quarter of the spinach.

Fold chicken over filling; wrap with two slices prosciutto to enclose securely. Repeat process with remaining chicken, pesto, cheese, sliced tomato, spinach and prosciutto.

Roast chicken and remaining tomatoes in oiled large shallow baking dish, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until cooked through (Mine took about 30 minutes).

Serve chicken with roasted tomatoes.

Serves 4.

Wrapped in the prosciutto, waiting to be roasted.

Lily's version on the left, Monet's on the right (served with teeny, tiny cut up potatoes I tossed in olive oil and roasted for the same time as the chicken - tasty!)

Finished version.  Yum.

Chilli Lime Chicken and Pasta

Ooo I like this recipe a lot.  It is fresh tasting, light and easy to put together.  Nice to eat on a warm summer's day...

*Taken from Women's Weekly 'Meals In Minutes', pg 54, published 1998*

Ingredients

4 (680g) chicken breast fillets

8 large cherry tomatoes

300g fresh lasagna sheets

100g baby rocket leaves, torn

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon drained capers

2 teaspoons finely grated lime rind

2 small fresh red chillies, seeded, chopped finely

Method

Cook chicken on heated oiled griddle, in batches, until browned both sides and cooked through.  Cut chicken, on the diagonal, into 1cm-thick pieces.  Cook the tomato halves, both sides, on same griddle until just soft.

Meanwhile, tear pasta into large, uneven pieces.  Cook pasta in large pan of boiling water, uncovered, until just tender; drain.

Divide pasta among serving plates; top with chicken, tomato and rocket, drizzle with combined remaining ingredients.

Serves 4

Lemon Tart

Having always wanted to make a Lemon Tart but never having made one, I thought I would make one.  It was a little time consuming, only because of the pastry but it was worth the effort.  

A hint here, if you don't have cooking beads or spare rice, a good idea to blind bake is to cover the pastry with baking/parchment paper then fill with scrunched cooking foil.  Works very well.

*Taken from The Australian Women's Weekly 'All-Time Favourites', page 44, published 1977*

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (185g) plain flour

1/3 cup (55g) icing sugar mixture

1/4 cup (30g) ground almonds

125g cold butter, chopped

1 egg yolk

Lemon Filling

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind

1/2 cup (125ml) lemon juice

5 eggs

3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar

1 cup (250ml) thickened cream

Method

Blend or process flour, sugar, almonds and butter until combined; add egg yolk, process until ingredients just come together.  Knead dough on floured surface until smooth; wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll pastry between sheets of baking paper until large enough to line 24cm round loose-based flan tin.  Lift pastry into tin; press into side, trim edge.  Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.

Cover pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or rice, place on oven tray.  Bake in a moderately hot oven for 15 minutes.  Remove paper and beans, bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned; cool.  Pour lemon filling into pastry case then bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until filling has set slightly; cool.  Refrigerate until cold; dust with sifted icing sugar, if desired.

Lemon Filling Method

Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl; stand for 5 minutes.

Serves 8

Curried Leek and Kumara Soup

A quick, easy and very tasty soup to make.  I only used about 1 litre of chicken stock and 3 large kumaras (about 1.4 kg) and 1 tablespoon curry powder, instead of the required amount.I also didn't add the yogurt for lack of any.  Apparently a good soup to freeze, before adding the bacon pieces...

*Taken from Women's Weekly cookbooks 'Meals in Minutes', page 72, published 1998*

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium (150g) onion, chopped roughly

2 large leeks, chopped roughly

2 tablespoons curry powder

4 large (2 kg) kumara, peeled and then chopped roughly

2.5 litres (10 cups) chicken stock

2 bacon rashes, chopped finely

1/3 cup (80ml) yogurt

Method

Heat oil in large pan; cook onion and leek, stirring, until leek softens.  Add curry powder; cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add kumara and stock.  Bring to the boil; simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until kuara is just tender.  Blend or process mixture, in batches, until smooth. (Can be prepared ahead to this point; refrigerate overnight or freeze.)

Cook bacon in small heated dry pan, stirring, until browned and crisp; drain on absorbent paper.

Cook soup in large pan until heated through; serve topped with yogurt and sprinkled with bacon.

Bacon and Herb Muffins

*I know*  It has been ages.....

Here is a recipe for some savoury-type muffins.  You could really put anything in them but these were nice, warm with a spread of butter on them.  Mmmm....  I had no fresh herbs so used dried instead and no Parmesan here either.  I used English Tasty Cheddar.  Okey dokey?

*Taken from Women's Weekly 'COOK' published 2006, pg 509*

Ingredients

6 Bacon rashes (420g), rind removed, chopped finely

3 cups (450g) SR Flour

60g butter, chopped coarsely

1 tbs coarsely chopped fresh basil

2 tbs coarsely chopped fresh chives

2 tsp coarsely chopped fresh oregano

3/4 cup (60g) finely grated Parmesan 

2 eggs

1 cup (250ml) milk

Method

Preheat oven to moderately hot (200C/180C fan-forced).  Grease 12-hole muffin pan.

Cook bacon in heated lightly oiled small frying pan, stirring until crisp.  Drain on absorbent paper; cool 10 minutes.

Sift flour into large bowl; rub in butter.  Stir in bacon, herbs and cheese, then combined eggs and milk.

Spoon mixture into holes.  Bake, uncovered 20 minutes.  (I cooked for 30 mins).  Turn onto wire rack to cool.

Makes 12

Basic White Bread

Oh this bread is lovely - trust me.  Mine turned out great, so much so I am making it again as I type.  I use my mix master with the kneading attachments to do the kneading - takes about 8 mins or so.  I usually cover, first the yeast, then the dough with cling film and leave it on the floor in our spare room which is always warm.  (On hot humid days here in Cairns I tend to leave the yeast/dough to do its thing outside.)

*Taken from the Women's Weekly publication, 'Cook', published 2006, page 480*

Ingredients 

3 tsp dried yeast (7g packet)

1/2 cup (125ml) warm water

2 tsp caster sugar

2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour (I use 00 flour)

1 tsp salt

30g butter, melted

1/2 cup (125ml) warm milk

Method

Whisk yeast, the water and sugar in a small bowl until yeast dissolves, cover; stand in warm place for about 10 minutes or until mixture is frothy.

Sift flour and salt into large bowl; stir in butter, milk and yeast mixture.  Turn dough onto floured surface; knead about 10 minutes or until dough is elastic.  Place dough into greased bowl, cover; stand in warm place for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to moderately hot (200C/180C fan-forced).  Grease oven tray.

Turn dough onto floured surface; knead until smooth.  Roll dough to 18cm x 35cm rectangle; roll up from short side like a swiss roll

  Place on tray; cut four diagonal slashes across the top.  Cover; stand in warm place for about 20 minutes or until risen.  Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes.  Turn onto wire rack to cool.

Chicken, Vegetable and Pasta Soup

I love a good hearty soup and this is no exception.  Very tasty indeed and Monet really loved it!  I found this recipe in my folder of 'ripped-out' recipes.  It was originally in the July 2006 issue of Australian Women's Weekly magazine.

Ingredients

40g butter

1 large carrot, halved, thinly sliced

2 trimmed celery sticks, thinly sliced

1 large leek, halved, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bacon rashes, chopped coarsely

500g chicken thigh fillets, sliced thinly

1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock

2 cups (500ml) water

1 cup vermicelli soup pasta (or risoni or stellini)

50g baby spinach leaves

Method

Heat the butter in a large saucepan; cook the carrot, celery, leek and garlic until softened.  Add the bacon, cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the chicken, cook, stirring, until the chicken is lightly browned.  Add the stock and water, simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.  Add the soup pasta, simmer, covered, for about a further 5 minutes or until the pasta is tender.

Remove from the heat, stir in the spinach.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve topped with parmesan cheese flakes if desired.

Serves 4-6

Risotto Cakes with Basil Sauce and Pancetta

It has been a while....but I'm back here....

This recipe appealed to me for one reason or another, mainly because the male member of this household isn't a big fan of risotto and I thought this was an excuse to actually make some risotto...  The result of this recipe is really nice, though it did use a lot of dishes I found, which doesn't bother me because I have an electrical appliance that washes them.  My 'cakes' didn't stay together very well - got a bit stuck on the frying pan.  Maybe after forming the cakes, put the cakes in the freezer to set for 10 minutes...

*Taken from 'COOK', a Women's Weekly publication, published 2006, page 389*

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine

1 medium brown onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 cup (200g) arborio rice

3 cups (750ml) chicken stock

2 tbs flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 tbs chives, finely chopped

2 tbs Parmesan, finely grated

1 egg white, beaten lightly

4 slices pancetta (60g)

4 oak-leaf lettuce leaves

Basil Sauce

1 tsp cornflour

1 tsp water

3/4 cup (180ml) evaporated milk

2 tbs basil, finely chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to hot (220C/200C fan-forced).

Heat 2 tablespoons of the wine in a large saucepan, cook onion and garlic, stirring, about 2 minutes or until onion softens.

Add rice and remaining wine; cook, stirring, about 3 minutes or until wine reduces by half.  Stir in stock; bring to the boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, covered 15 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.  Remove from the heat; stir in the parsley, chives and cheese. Cool 15 minutes; stir in the egg white.  Using hands, shape risotto mixture into four patties.

Place pancetta on oven tray.  Bake, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until crisp; drain on absorbent paper.  Break pancetta into pieces.

Reduce oven temperate to moderate (180C/160C fan-forced).

Cook risotto cakes in large heated lightly oiled frying pan until browned both sides.  Place cakes on oven tray; bake, uncovered, 10 minutes or until heated through.

Meanwhile, make basil sauce. 

Blend cornflour with the water in a small saucepan; stir in milk.  Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens slightly, stir in basil.

Serve risotto cakes on lettuce leaves.  Drizzle with basil sauce; top with pancetta.

Serves 4