Beer But Chicken

Wahoo I finally found my leads so I can transfer my photos from my camera to my laptop!

We moved into the new flat OK, however, we still have boxes everywhere as we have no furniture to put things away into!

On Friday night I made Jamie Olivers Beer But Chicken. Boy is this a tasty dish. It's very quick, easy and will be the best thing you eat all week!

Beer But Chicken Recipe
Source: Jamie Oliver

1 x Chicken
1 x Can of Beer
1 tsp x Mild Chilli Powder
1 tsp x Fennel Seeds
1 tsp x Paprika
1 tsp x Ground Cumin
1 tsp x Brown Sugar
3 x tbs of Olive Oil

1. Add all the spices into a pestle and mortar. Grind them all together. Add in the old and mix into a paste.
2. Open the can of beer and pour half into a glass (I like to drink this half whilst making this!). Now take a tin opener and remove the top. Be careful.
3. Take your chicken and rub the spice mix all over it both inside and out.
4. Place the beer can in a baking tray and sit your chicken on top.
5. Place it in a pre-heated oven and cook until golden. I cooked it for 30 mins on 200 C, then dropped them temp to 160 C for another 30 mins and it turned out perfectly.

Mrs Hackneys Notes:
Leave your chicken for at least an hour or 2 so it can absorb all the tasty spices and flavours.
Serve wuth homemade chips, coleslaw and a crusty white buttered baguette.

Cool new iPhone ap!!

I've just downloaded a new ap so I can upload to my blog straight from my phone!!

I enjoyed a lovely dinner tonight, which Kenny cooked for as I was working until 8. He made spicy chicken, veggies and potato wedges mmmm. We also watched the Brits. Florence and the Machine rocks!

Tomorrow I have another busy day with another canapé event and then another one on Thursday too.

Check out the yummy dinner I had at one of our clients, Mestizo the other day. It's a giant stone pot filled with chicken and beef in a tomato sauce served with soft tortillas. It was delicious!!


Here is a picture of the beer butt chicken I made a couple of weeks ago! The chicken was rubbed in a spice mix then positioned on top of a beer can (which was opened with a tin opener and half drained). It's a jamie Oliver recipe and definitely one I'll make again.


I think it's bed time...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Breakfast Hash

I decided to treat everyone to my version on Breakfast Hash today and Suey and Kenny both agreed that it was the best one so far!

The beauty of this dish is that you can use whatever you have left in the fridge. I had a handful of mushrooms so added those. If you don't have pancetta, use chopped up bacon or even a chopped up slice of gammon would also be yummy...

Serves 4 People

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Breakfast Hash

5 Cumberland Sausages
2 x Mini Packets of Pancetta (I think it was around 200g combined)
3 x Large Bartlett Rooster Potatoes
1-2 x Red Onions
1 x Long Sweet Red Pepper
A handful of Flat Leaf Parsley (leave some aside to serve)
4 x Spring Onions (leave some aside to serve)
A handful of Mushrooms (approx 6)
Butter
Olive Oil
1 x Tsp Paprika
2 x Tbs Tomato Puree
White Pepper
S & P
Eggs

1. Pre-hreat your oven to approx 200 C.

2. Peel the potatoes and dice them into small squares. Cut the red onion and red pepper into chunks too.

3. Fry your sausages on a low - medium heat until cooked and golden all the way round. Set aside to cool. When cooled, slice into chunks.

4. Add a good chunk of butter and some olive oil to a big pan on a medium to high heat. Add the potatoes and red onion. Cook for approx 10 mins until the potatoes are starting to brown. Add some herbs if you want. I used 2 sage leaves and some fresh thyme. Turn off the heat and set aside.

5. Add the Pancetta to a hot frying pan and fry for for around 5 - 8 mins until cooked. You don't need to add any oil to the frying pan as the lardons are fatty enough and will fry in their own oils. When cooked through, discard the excess oil and add the Pancetta to the potato and onion mix.

6. Pour the potato mix on 2 baking trays and spred out the mixture evenly. Season well and sprinkle on some white pepper too. Cook for 15 minutes.

7. Whilst the potato mixture are cooking, put the frying pan that you cooked the Pancetta in back on the heat and add the red pepper, mushrooms, spring onions, parsley and the sliced sausage. Add in 1 teaspoon of paprika and the 2 teaspoons of tomato puree. Cook for around 10 mins of a medium heat. Add a little splash of water to help things along. Turn off the heat after 10 mins.

8. When the timer goes off for the potatoes, remove the 2 trays from the oven and add the sausage mix to each tray. Give it a good mix and make sure both trays are spread out evenly. Sprinkle on some paprika and some sea/rock salt. Place both trays back in the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes.

9. Around 5 minutes before it's ready, fry your eggs. If you have any room in the oven, warm your plates.

10. To serve, add a nice big pile of the hash onto the plate, top with a fried egg or two and sprinkle over some spring onions and more parsley.

Enjoy :-)

Pissaladière

I keep seeing this classic French pizza type recipe on cooking shows but I haven't tried it yet so I figured I'd make it myself as a treat. It combines bread, caramelised onions, olives and anchovies - sounds like my idea of heaven!

I found the recipe on channel 4's website.

Pissaladière Recipe

Source: Channel 4

Ingredients

• 250g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp easy-blend dried yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 1kg onions, thinly sliced
• 1 fat garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus a few extra sprigs
• 10-12 black olives, pitted
• 50g can anchovies in olive oil, drained

1. Sift the bread flour, salt, dried yeast and sugar into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and stir in 150ml hand-hot water.

2. Bring the mixture together with your hands, adding a little extra water if necessary and work to make a soft dough. Tip out and knead on a clean, lightly floured work surface for about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover with cling film and set aside in a warm place for 45 minutes-1 hour or until it has doubled in size.

3. Meanwhile, make the pissaladière topping. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add the sliced onions and stir to coat well in the oil. Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and cook very gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (so the onions don't catch), until tender. Remove the lid and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chopped thyme leaves and cook for a further 15 minutes, until very soft and lightly golden. Remove the pan from the heat. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then set aside to cool slightly.

4. Punch back the risen dough to knock out the air, tip out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface and knead briefly. Using a rolling pin, roll out to a rectangle measuring about 35 x 30cm and place the dough on a large, lightly oiled baking sheet. Set aside in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7.

5. Spread the cooked onions over the dough, then top with the olives, anchovies and extra thyme sprigs. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the base is cooked through and pale golden around the edges.

6. Garnish the pissaladière with the thyme sprigs, then cut into squares. Serve while it's hot.

It was very tasty indeed :-)

Meatballs

I know, I know, I feel terrible because I haven't updated this ages but my life is pretty busy at the moment. I know it's no excuse but I'm sticking to it!

News wise, we are moving to a new flat on the 7th March. It's only up the road so about 10 mins walk away but it's bigger and more importantly, cheaper. It needs some works doing to it in terms of re-painting, grouting etc so I'll be organising a 'painting' party so get your old T-shirts out at the ready! We'll have a spare room again, which I'm very excited about so let me know when you want to come and visit although we don't have a bed for it yet... :-)

I have been cooking over the past few weeks but nothing too exciting. The only things that haven't already been added to this blog are Meatballs, Home-made Pasta and Beer But Chicken.

I'll start with the Meatballs and Pasta. Sue decided that one of her new years resolutions was to learn how to cook so I've been trying to show her how to make a few things. The girl loves meatballs so here's the recipe and her in action...

Meatballs

Source: Adapted from a recipe found in Delicious Mag

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

1 x Carrot, finely chopped

1 x Celery Stick, finely chopped

4 x Cloves of garlic

1 x can of Chopped Tomatoes

1 x Carton of Pasata (Smooth Tomatoes - 500g)

600g Minced Beef (I like to mix minced beef & minced pork)

50g Parmesan (plus more for sprinkling over when ready)

75g Stale breadcrumbs

Pinch of Chilli Flakes 

Large bunch of Parsley (chopped)

1 x Medium Egg

400g Pasta (Linguine is you're buying dried)

1. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a large pan and add in the carrot, celery, garlic and onion. Cook gently for 5 minutes until they start to soften.

2. Add in the canned tomatoes and the pasata. Fill the empty tomato can with water and add that to the pan too. Gently simmer.

3. Put the minced beef/pork into a bowl. Add in the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, chilli flakes, parsley, egg and seasoning. Mix well with your hands until combined. It should be firm and moist but not sticky. (If it is too sticky, add more breadcrumbs)

4. Roll into small balls, the size of a walnut. (You should have around 30).

5. Drop the balls into the sauce. Shake them down into the sauce (stirring them whilst soft will brake them up), cover with a lid and simmer gently for around 35 - 45 minutes until the meatballs are cooked and the sauce has thickened. 

6. Serve with pasta and enjoy :-)

Mrs Hackneys Notes:

* Make your breadcrumbs by buying a small white bread roll from the bread aisle and wizz it up in the food processor.

* You can free the meatballs and sauce once they have cooled completely.

* You can make home-made pasta if you like but you will need a pasta machine in order to roll it thin enough.

 

Sue making pasta... and very nice it was too!

Happy New Year

I can't believe that it's New Years Eve today! I'm not feeling to well so Kenny, Sueling and I are staying in tonight. I've got some lovely little nibbles from M&S and Sue and I just picked up all the ingredients for home-made pizzas and shandy beers.

I just made a start on the pizza dough only to find that my scales have ran out of battery so I had to find an another recipe using cup measurements. I found this:

Recipe for Pizza Dough
Source: All Recipes

• 1 (.25 ounce / 7g) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons white sugar

I used my recipe for the tomato sauce base. We decided on a topping of fresh chilli, chorizo slices, mozarella and rocket mmmmm.

Here is the link to my original recipe I normally use: Saturday Night Pizza

We enjoyed a nice run up to Christmas. Ena and Ken came to visit on the 12th and brought me some treats including alphabet cookie cutters and a kitchen organiser! Thank you, I love them! We had a tasty lunch at Bodeans and then headed to the Winter Wonderland fair in Hyde Park. It's was lovely and festive but it was really busy. We did enjoy some Christams treats though including hot cider, mulled wine, hot chocolate, Spanish churros and waffles.

I haven't updated the blog in a while which I apologise for but I have been super busy with Christmas, working on the new events website and spending a couple of weeks at home. I know it's no excuse so will be adding 'update the blog regularly' on my NY resolutions list!

I had a fabulous Christmas and received some lovely pressies including a proper old fashioned pinnie, a wine tasting lunch at Swinton park, a fabulous giant teacup for growing herbs in, watering can shaped salt and pepper shakers, a beautiful caraf for all the red wine we drink and lots of cupcake themed stuff including the cutest cup with a lid! You'll also be pleased to hear I also got a new digital camera from my hubby for updating my blog so I don't need to faff on with using Kennys laptop anymore!!

Other news is that I got myself a lovely iphone today. I love it and have already downloaded lots of aps including the most addictive game called doodlejump.

I loved spending time at home with everyone especially the kids. We made some lovely glittery door hangers, salt dough tree decorations and cookies. For those of you I keep forgetting to tell, Meiling is pregnant with her 5th child! Fingers crossed it won't be too long until I'm with child ha ha!

Before I left for home I decided I wanted to make an old fashioned crochet blanket so I watched a couple of videos on youtube and taught myself. I managed to inspire Sueling, Meiling, Joling, Mum, Clare and Sarley to all start crocheting too and before I left to come back to London everyone had a blanket on the go! :-)

I have decided to make new years resolutions this year:

1. Manage money better
2. Wing Saturdays (try out different wing recipes for Kenny every other Saturday)
3. Keep on top of Birthdays and Special Dates
4. Tidy as I go (Kenny thinks I'm too messy!)
5. Weekly Food Plan (plan ahead so we don'r spend so much money on food every week)
6. Take more photos (now I have my new camera I want to make sure I capture everything)
7. Visit dad, Liquong and Yeling
8. Make cityholics a success
9. Make more time for friends
10. Update this blog regularly
11. Aim to have a dinner party once a month

I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year and hope it's filled with health, wealth, love and happiness. May all your dreams come true.

xx

Birthday Cakes Galore!

Congratulations to Jon and Hannah on your engagement!!! I'm so happy for you both :-)
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On the subject of happy occasions, Sharon asked if I would make a Birthday cake for her dad and her cousins girlfriend for a party they are had on Friday night. I jumped at the chance as it meant that I could have a play with my cake decorating stuff that's been sat in a box since January.
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I decided to make a simple sponge cake for the bottom cake and a chocolate cake for the top tier. .
I’m also making one for Dickys Birthday and his favourite flavour is lemon so I'm making a lemon sponge with lemon curd buttercream. Kenny wants me to decorate it in red and white though (as he supports arsenal) so that's a bit boring but we'll see how it pans out.
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I used the recipes found on the British Sugarcraft Forum, which gives you a high density cake. Thanks to everyone there who has been answering my questions this week!
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8" Round - Portions - 20
10oz Block margarine (softened)
11 ¼ oz Caster sugar
10 oz Sponge flour
10 oz Eggs (approx 5 large eggs)
2 ½ Water (Tablespoons)
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6" Round - Portions - 11
6 oz Block margarine (softened)
63/4 oz Caster sugar
6 oz Eggs (approx 3 large eggs)
6 oz Sponge flour
1 ½ Water (Tablespoons)
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OVEN: Fan assist oven 150, or normal elec 180 or Gas mark 3
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1. Cream butter and sugar
2. Add in eggs, one at a time. Also add in a tbs of the flour to stop the mixture curdling
3. Add in flour
4. Add in water
5. Put into a lined cake tin
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For lemon sponge
Add the zest of one lemon per 4oz mixture.
You can replace the water with the lemon juice.
Once the baked cake is emptied out of the cake tin brush all the surfaces of the cake with lemon
stock syrup.
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For 8" Chocolate Sponge
Substitute 3oz of flour with 3oz of cocoa powder
Tiny amount - less than 1/4 tsp of baking powder
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For 6" Chocolate Sponge
Substitute 1 1/2 oz of flour with 1 1/2 oz of cocoa powder
Tiny amount - less than 1/4 tsp of baking powder
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Simple Syrup
2 tblsp of sugar
2 tblsp of hot water
Dissolve sugar in the water and leave to cool.
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Lemon Curd Buttercream
250g butter
500g icing sugar
5 tbsp lemon curd
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Chocolate Ganache
1 Cup Double Cream
6 0z Chocolate (I used 3oz of milk and 3oz of dark)
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Put the cream into a pan on a LOW heat and add in the chocolate, all broken into pieces. Mix slowly until it's all mixed together. Cool in the fridge until it's set - it should be thick like the inside of a chocolate truffle!
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
*Because I am a numpty, I’ve just realised that I baked all my cakes at 150 C instead of 180 C so my tip of the day is to read all instructions properly before starting! I also forgot to add in the baking powder when I made the choc sponge!
*Once the cakes were cooled, I split them, filled with buttercream and chilled. I then covered and decorated it with sugarpaste.
*It was hard work because I bought white sugarpaste from Somerfield and it was way too soft so it was hard to cover. Overall I'm happy with the end result.
*I used half block marg and half real butter as I like the richness of the butter but it was too rich using all butter.
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Dickys Cake: