The Crazy Kitchen: June 2012

Popular Recipes

Strawberry Cheesecake Sundae Strawberry Cheesecake Pimms Pavlova Ciabatta Ice Cream Cupcakes Raspberry Tarts

Saturday 30 June 2012

Turkey Milanaise a la Marco Pierre White

Or should that be Milanese? I've googled it and come up with both spellings so I'm not too sure, maybe I should've asked the man himself. 


I've cooked a lot with turkey recently but none of it was a patch on the turkey that I tasted last week at the Marco Pierre White cooking Masterclass. I've discovered that it's all down to the length of cooking time and seasonings that you use, for example Mr PW told us that he uses a meat probe when he cooks meat to ensure that it's cooked to perfection, turkey breast to 66 degrees C and thigh to 72 degrees C. It's all too easy to overcook turkey as we want to make sure it's cooked but then often overcook it to be on the safe side, resulting in a dry bird. I've now bought myself a meat probe to make sure that when I cook roast turkey in the future it's going to be as good as the one I tasted last week.


Back to the Milanaise now, which was very quick to prepare and cook. By the time Sam had scootered down to the local chippy and back with a potato accompaniment, the Milanaise was ready to serve.


Photobucket

"
Keep it simple, the more you put into food the more you take away- Marco Pierre White


Turkey Milanaise
Serves 2-3


2 slices of stale white bread (or fresh bread left out for a while)
2 Turkey breast steaks
1 egg, beaten
plain flour
Olive oil for frying (or clarified butter if you have it)

  • Whizz the bread up in a food processor until you have fine crumbs
  • Bash the steaks between clingfilm or baking paper until approx 5mm thick
  • Coat the steaks fully in flour, then the egg and into the breadcrumbs, press them down onto the turkey
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet, frying pan
  • Fry the steaks in the oil until lightly browned on one side, and then flip over and brown the other side
  • Serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon over

Marco served with a simple salad of cherry tomatoes with rocket and parsley, lightly dressed in Extra Virgin olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of rock salt.

This dish is such great value as 2 steaks would feed 2 large or 3 smaller appetites. I bought my steaks in Asda where they are in the 3 for £10 deal. Each pack contains 4 steaks, making each turkey portion only 83p.


Photobucket

That was a large dinner plate so this piece could quite easily be cut in half for smaller appetites.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Millies Cookies Ice Cream & Chocolate Ice Cream Pops

I've used Angel Delight Ice Cream a few times now. I made Arctic Roll with it as well as adding extra ingredients to it. In my BritMums Live goody bag there was a Crocs lollipop maker so I gave them a go with chocolate Angel Delight ice cream. They turned out really well, although are a bit fragile on the sticks - you need to run the mould under hot water for a few moments & gently ease it away from the ice cream.


Photobucket


Yesterday I picked up a box of Millies Cookies whilst in London and to save arguments over the remaining flavours I decided to break them all up and add them to the remaining chocolate ice cream, which worked really well as the cookies are quite soft.


Photobucket

We will continue to experiment with the ice cream and share our results here.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

My day with Marco Pierre White

I recently won a competition with BritMums that included a cooking Masterclass with Marco Pierre White as part of the prize, and today was the day for the Masterclass. I needed to be in South London for 10.45 and not wanting to make a bad impression & arrive late I left the house before 7am to catch a train to London. I arrived well in advance & stopped for a coffee at a nice little cafe in Wandsworth where I met a fellow prize winner, Mel from Chef Mel's Kitchen. We then met up with Sammie from One Blue One Pink as we arrived at the venue.
Unfortunately two of the winners couldn't make it so we were joined by BritMums lovely founders Jen & Susannah, along with the other winner, Helen from Fuss Free Flavours.
I was extremely nervous when I arrived but once introduced to the Lean On Turkey team from Bernard Matthews I felt more at ease, and then once Marco started chatting the nerves faded completely. He was such a nice man, making lots of eye contact when talking, and involving everyone in the conversations, not at all like I expected him to be.
In total Marco cooked us five dishes, all with Turkey in and each and every one of them so much more flavourful than anything that I've made. He showed us that so much can be done with turkey, and in a very short space of time.
My favourite of the dishes has to be the Waldorf Salad, which was so nice and fresh and not at all like a Waldorf Salad that you would expect. The Milanaise followed a close second, although all the dishes were pretty amazing. I will definitely be trying them all out soon and will of course blog about them here. I believe there will be more photos and videos (eek) on the Lean On Turkey website soon, and possibly BritMums too, along with recipes, but for the time being here's a few pics of the delicious dishes and photos of the rest of the day.

Photobucket

Photobucket 

Photobucket 

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

I was not asked to write about this but I wanted to as I had such an enjoyable day.

Monday 25 June 2012

Quorn Enchiladas with Homemade Tortilla Chips

In a bid to use up some of the freezer food this week I had a rummage around and found some Quorn mince, and as I have an abundance of tortillas for some reason decided to make enchiladas to use some of them up.


Photobucket

I've previously posted a recipe for Staffordshire Enchiladas and these were much the same apart from using Tortillas instead of the Staffordshire Oatcakes used previously. I also used cooked chicken previously and this time used Quorn and added mushrooms and left out the kidney beans.


For the topping I mixed a tub of garlic & herb Philadelphia with some Greek yoghurt and spread it over the enchiladas before sprinkling the cheese on. I kept some of it aside to use as a dip for the tortilla chips that I made to use up more of the tortillas.


Homemade Tortilla Chips


2 Flour Tortillas
tbsp Olive Oil
your choice of herbs/spices - I used Nando's Peri Peri chip sprinkle

  • Cut each tortilla into 12 wedges
  • Place on a baking sheet & lightly brush each with Olive oil
  • Sprinkle over the spices
  • Bake in a preheated 180 degree (C) oven for 5-6 minutes, keeping your eye on them as they burn very quickly
  • Leave to cool on the tray and unless serving straight away keep them in an airtight container to keep them crispy
Photobucket

Photobucket

Sunday 24 June 2012

Lemon Turkey Risotto

After going to BritMums on Friday / Saturday I missed doing my weekly 7am Saturday morning grocery shop this week so today it was a case of throwing together what we had left to make dinner. A bag or Arborio rice was located so risotto it was. I velveted the turkey before adding it to the risotto as this keeps it tender, something that's usually used in Chinese dishes.


Photobucket
SERVES 4-5


1 Egg white
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp cornflour
425g Turkey breast, diced
Juice & zest of 1 lemon
375g Arborio risotto rice
200ml white wine
750ml stock
2 courgettes, finely diced
2 handfuls of frozen peas
oil for frying
75g cheddar cheese, grated
  • Mix the egg white and vinegar together
  • Stir in the turkey and coat completely 
  • Sprinkle over the cornflour and lemon zest and mix well until the turkey is completely coated, leave to marinate for 30 minutes
  • Heat oil in large pan and fry the turkey until no longer translucent but not browned, remove from pan & set aside
  • Heat some more oil in the pan and add the rice, stirring for a minute
  • Add the lemon juice and white wine, stir & replace lid 
  • When all the liquid has been absorbed add the turkey and approx 100ml of stock, keep adding more stock each time it has all been absorbed
  • After 10 minutes of cooking add the courgettes
  • Total cooking time will be approx 20-25 minutes, when the rice is cooked add the peas & stir through, replace lid and leave for approx 2-3 minutes
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese before serving

Clean plates and another winning family dish in The Crazy Kitchen

Wednesday 20 June 2012

ReGGae ReGGae Sausage Casserole

Last month we were sent some Reggae Reggae sauces to try out and I blogged about it here. We've since been using the sauces a lot, the ketchup has been used with chips, wedges and bacon sandwiches, the extra hot sauce has been added to dishes to give them a bit of a kick after the children's portions have been served up.

Today I was making a sausage casserole in the slow cooker and decided to finish off the bottle of mild sauce and add it to the casserole. It was a very simple yet very tasty dinner.

You will need :

750g Sausages, each chopped into 4 pieces & browned off
2 onions, chopped
4 peppers, cored & sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 bottle of mild Reggae Reggae sauce
can of chopped tomatoes
100ml water
tbsp cornflour, mixed with tbsp cold water

  • Throw everything except the cornflour into the slow cooker.
  • Cook on high for 4-5 hours
  • Towards the end of cooking add the cornflour paste to thicken the sauce, a little at a time until the desired consistency is obtained


Serve with boiled rice or pasta


Photobucket

Monday 18 June 2012

Strawberry & Vanilla Arctic Roll

I've already joined in with a strawberry challenge this month with my Strawberry ice cream Pavlova but when Jenny from Mummy Mishaps mentioned that strawberries were also her I love Cake theme I thought it would be only right to make another strawberry dessert and join in.


It is a cake of sorts, as it does involve sponge, but I thought I would try and make a popular 80's dessert the Arctic Roll. I've made a swiss roll before but have never tried filling it with ice cream so it was a bit of an experiment for me. You may wonder why I would go to the trouble of making something that you can buy in the supermarket for just 99p, and to be honest I wondered the same myself. It really was quite easy to make and now I know how I'm going to be trying it with various flavours too, something that you can't get in the supermarket - well that's actually a lie as Bird's Eye make a chocolate one too!


Photobucket
You will need :


Ice cream -you can make it yourself - I have a recipe for a lovely strawberry ice cream here, you can buy it ready made or, like I did, you can use the ingenious invention of Angel Delight which is their new Ice Cream mix.


Sponge (I resized a BBC Good Food swiss roll recipe)
2 Eggs
50g Golden Caster Sugar
50g Self Raising Flour


Jam (you could use bought jam but I had strawberries that needed using up)
275g Strawberries, chopped
50g Golden Caster Sugar
5 tbsp water


Make the ice cream and churn in an ice cream maker. If you're using Angel Delight Ice cream* then you can freeze it in a tube like I did, or if you're using ready made soften it up slightly and make into a roll by wrapping in clingfilm or baking paper and then place in the freezer until the sponge is ready. I added some sliced strawberries to the vanilla ice cream as I added it to the tube. For the tube I rolled a flexible chopping board and taped it in place, which I then filled with the ice cream and placed into the freezer until firm.


Photobucket
When the ice cream is ready make the sponge - or you could just do what I did when I realised that I should've waited until the ice cream was set first - I made another tube the same size as the ice cream tube, laid the warm sponge onto a clean tea towel , laid another one on top and rolled it around the tube and left it like that until cooled. The sponge never dried out and was still flexible enough to roll around the ice cream without cracking.


Sponge
  • Whisk the eggs and sugar together until they're light and fluffy
  • Fold in the flour
  • Spread onto a lined baking sheet - I used a 12" x 9" one  and didn't fill it, if you want to make a larger roll just increase the quantities & use a larger baking sheet.
  • Bake in a preheated 180 degree (C) oven for 7 minutes
Jam
  • Add the strawberries, sugar & water to a pan
  • Bring to the boil and simmer until thickened, around 30 minutes
  • Allow to cool
To assemble 
  • spread the jam over the sponge, unwrap the ice cream and roll the sponge around the ice cream, trimming any excess. 
  • Wrap in baking paper and place back in the freezer.
Photobucket
As you can see I forgot to add the jam at first and had to unroll it and in hindsight should have left the ice cream to freeze a bit longer.





PicMonkeyCollage1A

* I used 2 packs of Angel Delight Ice Cream for this but as there was some left over I added a few crushed up Oreo's to it to make dessert for another day.

Photobucket

Friday 15 June 2012

Delightful Ice Cream

Now before I start, this is NOT a sponsored post nor did I receive the product for review, it's just so good I wanted to share.


As I've said previously, my kids love Ice cream and whilst I do like to make my own from time to time I don't always get the time, and often can't be bothered with the hassle of the ice cream maker and having to remember to freeze it the day before I want to make the ice cream.


Last week I spotted packs of Angel Delight ice cream whilst in Asda and thought I'd give them a go, especially as they were only £1 for a twin pack. I bought the vanilla, butterscotch and Chocolate flavours and have so far tried the chocolate and butterscotch.


You make the mix up like regular Angel Delight, by mixing the powder into milk. I whisked it up in my Kitchen Aid until it was light and fluffy and put it into a plastic box ready for freezing. At this point you can add extra ingredients if you want. To the chocolate I added chocolate chips and chocolate and toffee sauces and mixed them through the ice cream. To the butterscotch I mixed in butterscotch chips and added some toffee sauce and toffee buttons to the top. Pop it in the freezer for 4 hours and you have a lovely semi-homemade ice-cream.


I was expecting the ice cream to taste like Angel Delight, but it didn't, it was much nicer - just like a good quality ice cream, even though I only used skimmed milk. With around 90 calories per 100ml of the ice cream (without extras) it makes a low calorie treat too, if you don't have too much.

  Photobucket

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Cream of Butternut Squash & Tomato Soup

I used to make soup every week but these days it's a lot less often, I'm not sure why as it's easy to make and everyone (even Jack) loves it. I had a butternut squash to use up but with the addition of the tomatoes I could fool Jack into thinking it was cream of tomato soup, which he has no problem eating. I had no intention of blogging this recipe but after my husband said it was quite possibly the best soup he'd ever eaten (I think he said that last time too) I thought I would share it, although the quantities are a bit of guesswork.

Large butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded & cubed
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
dried Rosemary
2 tbsp tomato puree
water - I filled an empty can up twice
200ml double cream (I am sure about this quantity as it was what was left over out of a tub of 600ml cream after I'd made my Pavlova)


  • Throw everything (except the cream) in the slow cooker & cook on high for 5 hours (or until squash is tender)
  • Add the cream
  • Whizz to a puree with a hand blender, adding more water until it's the desired consistency
  • Add salt & pepper to taste


Serve with fresh homemade (breadmaker) bread

Photobucket

Saturday 9 June 2012

One Ingredient Challenge - Strawberry Ice Cream Pavlova

I haven't joined in with Working London Mummy & Laura from How To Cook Good Food's One Ingredient Challenge for a while but with the theme this month being Strawberries and British strawberries being on offer for £1 a punnet in the supermarket it would be rude not to.

All three of my children love ice cream (well Jack does as long as it's not too cold!) so I decided to make some strawberry ice cream, and to jazz it up a little I plonked it on top of a meringue...et voila, ice cream Pavlova


Photobucket

Strawberry Ice Cream
300g fresh Strawberries, hulled
100g Caster Sugar
400ml Double Cream
1 vanilla pod

Meringue (from BBC Good Food)
4 Egg Whites
225g Golden Caster Sugar
1 tsp Cornflour
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar

Fruit Sauce
250g Frozen Mixed Summer Fruits
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Serve with more fresh Strawberries

Ice Cream
Blend the strawberries to a puree
Whisk the Strawberries, sugar, cream & seeds from the vanilla pod together
Churn in an ice cream maker following manufacturers instructions and then place in the freezer in a container to firm up - if you don't have an ice cream maker pour the mixture into a large shallow container & place in the freezer & mix around every 20-30 minutes to avoid it freezing solid

Meringue
Whisk the egg whites to a soft peak
Add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking after each addition
After all the sugar has been added whisk for a few minutes until stiff & smooth & stands in firm peaks
Whisk in the cornflour and vinegar
Spread meringue onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper
Place into a preheated 180 degree (C) oven & immediately lower the temperature to 120 degrees (C) and bake for 1.5 hours
Turn the oven off & allow the meringue to cool in the oven

Fruit Sauce
Add the frozen fruit to a small pan with the water & sugar
Bring to the boil & then allow to cool before blending to a puree, add a little more water if it's too thick


Photobucket

Assemble the Pavlova by scooping ice cream onto the meringue, scattering the strawberries and pouring sauce over the top


Photobucket

This was quite possible THE best dessert I've ever made.....and everyone else thought so too...this was the plate around 10 minutes later

Photobucket






Photobucket

PicMonkeyCollage1A
 thegoodlifemum.com

Thursday 7 June 2012

Cheesy Turkey Fingers

This is my final turkey dish, I promise, and another that I'm entering into the competition in conjunction with Lean on Turkey that BritMums are currently running. It's reasonably healthy as I baked the fingers instead of frying them and they only have a small amount of cheese in. I would've liked to have added some chilli powder to the crispy coating but my three children probably wouldn't have eaten them if they were too spicy. It does make quite a large number of fingers considering there was only 4 turkey steaks used. At under £4 for the turkey it's also a very economical family meal.


Cheesy Turkey Fingers
573g Turkey Breast Steaks
4 Eggs, beaten
100g Plain Flour
135g Cream Crackers, finely crushed 
4 tsp dried Oregano
25g Parmesan Cheese, finely grated

  • Cut the turkey into fingers, I find it's easiest to do this with scissors rather than a knife
  • Mix together the cream crackers, oregano and parmesan and put into a shallow bowl or plate
  • Add the beaten eggs to another bowl and the flour in another
  • Dip the turkey into the egg, then the flour, back into the egg & then into the cream cracker crumbs, coating fully in each
  • Lay the fingers onto a greased baking dish
  • Bake in a preheated 200 degree (C) oven for 20-25 minutes, until cooked all the way through and crispy on the outside
I served in pitta bread with salad and coleslaw and a herb and garlic mayonnaise
Photobucket





Wednesday 6 June 2012

Slow Cooked Barbecue Pulled Turkey

Pulled Pork is a popular dish in certain states in the US, usually slow cooked over a barbecue and then pulled apart and  mixed with a barbecue sauce. In my quest to discover new ways to use turkey I decided to try and make a pulled turkey and enter it into the competition in conjunction with Lean on Turkey that BritMums are currently running. I only really used to use turkey mince or breast but I'm now realising how versatile turkey can be and turkey thigh, which I'd rarely used before, is great in lots of dishes, including this one.

Slow Cooked Turkey
800g Turkey Thigh Joint
2 red onions
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
8 Cloves
330ml can of Cider (I used pear cider)
1 tsp ground black pepper

Barbecue Sauce
1 can Chopped tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp mixed spice
30g muscovado sugar
2  tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp white wine vinegar

  • Slice the red onions in half and lay in the bottom of the slow cooker with the peeled whole garlic cloves
  • Stud the turkey joint with the cloves and spread the mustard over & place onto the onions
  • Pour the cider around the turkey and sprinkle with the pepper
  • Cook on high for 4-5 hours
  • Whilst the turkey is cooking make the barbecue sauce by adding all the ingredients to a saucepan
  • Simmer over a medium heat for around 45 minutes until thickened
  • Use a stick blender to blend to a smooth puree, or allow to cool before blending in a food processor
  • When the turkey is cooked remove it from the slow cooker & remove the cloves and any excess fat and skin
  • Shred the turkey with a fork
  • Discard the contents of the slow cooker and place the shredded turkey in, along with the barbecue sauce, reserving a small amount for dipping
  • Heat for approx 10 minutes until warmed completely through


Serve in a pitta bread with potato wedges, corn on the cob and homemade chunky coleslaw

Photobucket

Sunday 3 June 2012

Jubilee Cupcakes

I've been so busy recently that I haven't managed to do any Jubilee baking, but at the last minute I've managed to squeeze some in especially for Jenny's I Love Cake linky.


I decided to make vanilla cupcakes using the Primrose Bakery Recipe that I usually use and decorated some with Renshaws ready to roll icing and some with buttercream and Red, White & Blue peanut M&M's.


Vanilla Cupcakes


110g butter - softened - this time I used Stork Baking liquid
225g caster sugar
2 large eggs
120ml milk
tsp vanilla extract
150g SR flour
125g Plain flour

  • Cream the butter & sugar together
  • Add the eggs one at a time & beat
  • Add the milk & vanilla & beat again
  • Stir in the flour & mix well
  • Pour mixture into cupcake cases in a tin until half  full
  • Bake in a preheated 180 degree (C) oven for 20-25 minutes
  • Allow to cool on a wire rack


Vanilla Buttercream

55g butter - I used Stork this time & it turned out just as well as with the butter
30ml semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature
1tsp vanilla extract
250g icing sugar, sifted


  • Beat the butter, milk, vanilla & half the icing sugar together until pale & creamy
  • Add the remaining icing sugar & beat well again
  • Spoon the buttercream into an icing bag fitted with your chosen icing tip - I used my favourite Wilton 1M tip



For the Union Jack icing toppers


  • Cut a circle out of the blue icing using a round cookie cutter
  • Using the same cutter cut a circle out of the white icing & using a sharp knife cut into a cross
  • Then cut a circle out of the red icing and cut a smaller cross than you did with the white
  • for the remaining parts of the flag cut narrow strips of white icing & overlay them with a narrower strip of red & cut to desired length
  • Lay all pieces together using a dab of water to stick them
  • Pipe a blob of buttercream onto each cake and attach the Union Jack topper



  Photobucket  


Please vote for me

Mum and Dad Blog Awards 2012 



PicMonkeyCollage1A

Mini Turkey Kievs

For my second turkey recipe this week that I'm entering into the BritMums competition running in association with Lean on Turkey is for Mini Turkey Kievs using fresh turkey mince.

Photobucket


Mini Turkey Kievs

450g Turkey mince
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp mixed herbs
80g mini Mozzarella balls, halved
100g fresh white breadcrumbs
3 eggs, beaten
100g Plain flour, seasoned with garlic salt, black pepper & mixed herbs
Olive oil for frying

Makes 12 
  • Mix the turkey mince with the garlic and herbs
  • Take a tablespoon of mince & flatten in the palm of your hand
  • Place the mozzarella in the middle of the mince & wrap the mince around the mozzarella and form into a ball
  • Repeat with all the mince and mozzarella
  • Roll each ball of mince into the beaten egg, then the flour, back into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs, coating completely
  • Refrigerate until ready to fry
  • Heat the oil in a frying pan & fry the kievs in small batches until golden.
  • Transfer to a baking try and bake in a preheated 200 degree (C) oven for 20 mins, until cooked all the way through and golden brown and crispy
    Photobucket

    Any food that Jack eats is a winner in my eyes & he actually ate these so I'll definitely be making them again any may try them with a smoked cheese next time


    Please vote for me


Mum and Dad Blog Awards 2012

Cheesy Turkey Roulade

Currently BritMums have an amazing competition running in association with Lean on Turkey where six lucky winners can win £250 and a cooking masterclass with Marco Pierre White. By the end of this week The Crazy Kitchen household will be all turkeyed out as I try out a few new recipes to enter into the competition.


Photobucket

My first one is for a Cheesy Turkey Roulade using fresh Turkey Breast Steaks.

Cheesy Turkey Roulade

570g (approx) Turkey Breast Steaks
100g Parma Ham
35g fresh Rocket (or baby spinach)
200g Austrian / Bavarian smoked cheese

  • Lay the turkey steaks between 2 sheets of baking paper and bash with a rolling pin to make them thinner
  • Lay out the Parma ham onto a sheet of baking paper
  • Lay the flattened turkey steaks onto the ham
  • Cover with the Rocket
  • Slice the cheese thinly and lay over the rocket
  • Using the baking paper to help, roll everything up into a 'swiss roll'
  • Transfer to a baking tin lined with foil
    Photobucket
  • Cover with foil and bake in a preheated 180 degree (C) oven for 80 minutes, removing the foil for the final 20 mins of cooking time
  • Check that the turkey is cooked all the way through
  • Allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing
Photobucket

This was so simple yet so tasty and Sam said 'I love the taste of it even though I haven't even tasted it yet'.


Please vote for me






Best recipes of 2012

Search This Blog