Tip: Moist Shredded Chicken Breast

When making a dish like chicken a la king, chicken pie or even a quick curry
where you need to pre cook your chicken and you need to keep it moist.
Here’s what you do.....
In a pot, place an onion, quartered with some peppercorns and bay leaves. Add
your chicken breasts whole and cover with boiling water. Simmer for about
30 minutes.
Remove chicken from pot and place on a plate to pull apart. It stays nice and moist
ready to be added to your dish that you’re preparing.

Easy Peasy...... enjoy

Short Pastry for Mince Pies

You will need:

2 Cups of Flour

Pinch of Salt

2 Tablespoons of sugar

120g cold butter

zest of a lemon

Juice of an orange

Method:

Mix flour and salt

Cut cubes of butter into flour mixture and rub together to resemble bread crumbs

Add sugar and lemon zest and orange juice

make a dough and knead into a ball, place in fridge for 30 min

roll out, cut into shapes and place in your baking tin - add filling and top

bake at 180 deg for about 30 minutes

let cool and dust with icing sugar

Mom's Christmas Pudding.....

Gems from my mom...... Christmas Cake

Dawn's Easy Fridge Tart

You'll need:

1 tin caramel

250ml cream

1 packet of tennis biscuits 

A couple of peppermint crisp chocolates

Method:

Break biscuits up and place on the base of your dish

Gently combine cream and caramel

Break some chocolate into mixture and pour over biscuit 

Sprinkle with chocolate

Place in fridge for a few hours 😊

Comfy Curry Sauce......

I make a big pot of sauce as I take my time making it and it freezes well too. Just defrost and add your chicken or lamb, fresh corriander and some Greek yogurt. Sorted 👍

Spices for roasting: 

4 Tablespoons Fennel seeds

4 Tablespoons Cumin seeds

4 Tablespoons Corriander seeds

1 Tablespoon Fenugreek seeds

1 Tablespoon Black Pepper corns 

1 Cinnamon quill

4 Cardamom pods

Sprinkle of salt

Toast the spices gently over a low heat in a pot or pan. Roasting in oven also works

Allow to cool and remove quill before grinding into a powder to be used in sauce. The cinnamon will get added to your sauce to cook, then removed. 

Paste Ingredients:

Approximately 6cm fresh ginger

4 large red onions

2 bulbs of fresh garlic

3 chillies

Big bunch of fresh corriander 

Chop paste ingredients ( I use food processor)

Add your spices to the paste. 

Ingredients for sauce:

Big dollop of butter

4 tins of chopped tomatoes 

Approximately 500ml chicken stock

Couple large onions roughly diced

Method:

Heat butter in pot, add onions and fry to golden colour. 

Add paste and allow to heat through gently so not to burn but to allow the spices to release their flavors. 

Add tomatoes and the stock, cover and place in oven, cook on 160 deg for a couple of hours. Switching switch oven off and allow to cool in the oven. 

Remove and stir. Allow to rest over night and divide into freezer bags the next day keeping enough out for your first curry. 

Enjoy 😊

Basic Banana Bread......

I always make a double batch as they freeze very well 😊

Ingredients:

125g Butter

180g Sugar

2 Eggs (beaten well)

5 ml Vanilla essence

250g Flour

5ml Bicarbonate of soda 

3ml Salt

45ml Soured Milk 

3 Large Bananas

Method:

Cream butter, add sugar gradually 

Add the eggs and vanilla

Sieve flour, bicarbonate, salt together then add to mixture alternately with your blended banana milk mixture. ( I use my blender for the banana and milk)

Pour mixture into loaf pans and bake at 180 for an hour

Add nuts or raisins if you like

Test with skewer to see when done. 

Enjoy