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.

Another Day, Another Skirt

Hasn't happened in a looonnnnggggg time but I'm pretty sure I have a bug.

A sewing bug!

Yesterday I 'whipped' up this A-Line skirt, with. a. zip. I actually found my sewing machine's zipper foot. (I've had my machine for 11 years now and had about a dozen moves, including a country swap! so I'm rather impressed I still have all the numerous sewing machine 'feet'!)

I actually bought a bit of a ghastly, retro green material from IKEA - a whole 10 dirham for a metre of the stuff.  Even though I think the colour is a little ghastly, I still like it.  It actually reminds me of my mum's old kitchen laminate bench tops, back in the 80's.  Anyway, thought it might look okay with a different t-shirt, rather than black.

Agree?

Next on the cards is a red skirt and I've also got some printed pattern material.  You know I'll post the finished product here....stay tuned. ;P

Must Be The Arab Coming Out In Me

I have decided that I *heart* Za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice. Ooo it is yummoh and when I spied this recipe in one of my Chunky Cookbooks I just had to make it. And I thought I'd share it with you. It is called;

Za'atar-spiced Veal Loin Chops With Fattoush

Now to begin with I have always been interested in knowing what Fattoush was, as it is widely eaten around these parts and I never knew what it consisted of.  This recipe was a win-win, but when I went to the supermarket, no Aussie/NZ Veal on hand, or even Aussie/NZ Lamb Loin chops (wasn't keen on the Indian Veal or the local goat while I'm at it), so I ended up with a pack of NZ Lamb Cutlets.  Noice.

So here is the recipe, taken from page 369 of The Australian Women's Weekly 'Fast' chunky book. =)

4 x 200g veal loin chops

za'atar

1 tablespoon sumac

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

(or you could be like me and buy all that already made and in a herb container! *cheat cheat*)

fattoush

2 large pitta breads

4 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges

2 lebanese cucumbers, seeded, sliced thinly

1 medium green capsicum, cut into 2cm pieces

3 green/spring onions, sliced thinly

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint

1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil

1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1. Preheat grill.

2. Make za'atar. 

3. Make fattoush.

4. Cook veal on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until browned both sides and cooked.  Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the za'atar equally over the veal; serve with fattoush.

za'atar Combine ingredients in a small bowl.

fattoush Grill bread until crisp; break into small pieces.  Combine tomato, cucumber, capsicum, onion and herbs in a large bowl.  Just before serving, toss bread and combined oil, juice and garlic into salad.

Serves 4. 

Here's a pic - not the best lighting but I can tell you - it was delicious and I will be making it again!

Woof ! Woof ! Woof !

Ahh, her Grandad is proud.  (I sent him this picture - he's probably printed it out a dozen times and got it stuck around my parent's home.)

I've Been Sewing Again

And this time I've sewed a skirt in white (patterned). As as a rule, I rarely wear white. The odd tee shirt or two, but I've never had a white skirt.

...Until I was pregnant with Lily and the only maternity gear I found that I liked, was a white skirt in Mothercare. Then last summer I bought a pair of linen three quarter pants, in white, which I have now thrown out, due to the large stain of Butter Chicken on the leg. (Don't ask!)...

So after making my other skirt a few weeks back, which was zipless, I felt inspired to sew another. A couple of mums at school pointed me in the direction of a little shop not that far away, which sells zips, buttons, cottons, wools, nick-nacks for sewing (everything bar the kitchen sink and sewing patterns! boo!). I was most pleased that he had an assortment of zip colours, in the right size and cost a whole One Dirham each (todays market, currently about 25 aussie cents!)

So yesterday I set about making another skirt - another patternless one, but this time with a zip, which I did a very dodgy job of putting in (I can't remember how to do it!). But the zip works and it does the job it is meant to do. And you can't really see it, which is a bonus.

So here is the grand unveiling....

And of course I just had to model it for all you biglittlesister fans out there. Lol.

Ooo I can't wait to make another. =)

(And I really ought to buy a full-length stand alone mirror, don'tchathink?)

Just so you know, I am Mum, not MOM.

Sunday afternoon saw the mothers from Monet's Grade One class, invited to school for 'afternoon tea'. Of course I accepted the invite (all the mothers did).

When we entered the classroom, we were greeted by our son or daughter and taken to 'their' chair. Monet even tucked in the chair for me. On the table was this...

A handmade card and a very special laminated letter, written by Miss Monet herself, saying all the lovely things I do for her (and Lily).  Quite touching, though it was addressed to MOM.  (However on the drawing she had done on the heading there is hand written 'Mum'...)

One of the head teachers of the school must've spent all weekend making quite tasty Love Heart shaped cookies, which were then decorated by our own child. I can tell you, Lily thought the icing was delicious!  They were eaten, served with a lovely cup of tea and then we got to giggle away look at our children's writing journals.  (My Monet has come a long way over the course of the school year.)

A Sweet afternoon, it was nice to way to spend a Mother's Day.

Tandoori Corner

Do you have a favourite cuisine? MrL and I do and it is Indian. *nom nom*

The first time MrL and I headed to London (together) my dad had given me $200aud to shout us both, plus Kimbofo and T to dinner. As neither of us had really had a proper Indian meal before, K and T took us to their local Indian restaurant around the corner from their abode. It was a meal we never forgot.

Look at us babies, taken 11 years ago in 2000, enjoying our meal (washed down with some beers of course!)

Eleven years onward, we still talk about that meal.

I imagine in another 11 years time we will still be talking about the Indian we have here, in Abu Dhabi. Oh yes, this place is awash with Indian Takeout places and Restaurants. We've tried quite a few of them. But we always seem to go back to the one we find to be our favourite for Takeout. It is called 'Tandoori Corner' and it's address is something like 2nd Street, in between 13th and 15th, next to some (crap) supermarket. (Trust me, this is a pretty typical Abu Dhabi address - click on the 'Where' on the bottom of this post and it should show you 'where' the Tandoor Corner is). The thing is, the restaurant isn't really on a corner (!) but is located under these gorgeous (ahem!) apartment blocks....

We adore the Garlic Naan bread and their version of Butter Chicken.  Big statement, but I think their Butter Chicken is the best I've tasted in Adu Dhabi!  We tend to order four different dishes, which is enough for the two of us over two nights and the total cost is like $30aud.  You can't beat that for value. =P

So, what is your favourite cuisine then?

Motherhood

Seeing as it is Mother's Day, I found this on You Tube a while ago.  I think it is beautiful and oh so true.



I became a Mother at the age of 31.

I'm not really sure what I would've told my future self; maybe something along the lines of...

• you will experience real love for the first time
• you will learn to be patient
• saviour every moment, those kidlets grow so quickly
• don't take motherhood for granted, it is a privilege to be a mother
• If you've had one baby, don't expect to fall pregnant easily the 2nd time around
• take a deep breath
• when someone offers you a bit of 'time out' - TAKE IT
• you will not be able to go to the toilet by yourself
• what are long, hot showers?
• there will be many bums to wipe and many vomits to clean up
• you will hear over and over "what can I eat? what can I eat? what can I do?"
• you'll get used to getting up five times a night - say goodbye to your regular 8 hours
• your 'work' will be thankless, but most of the time you do what you do for love and love only. (Because if you don't do it, you know no one else will! lol)

What would you tell yourself?

Happy Mother's Day.