The Crazy Kitchen: August 2012

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Thursday, 30 August 2012

Warm Chipotle Chicken Salad

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I love a salad and eat one almost every day but they can often bit a bit bland, so I often like to spice it up a bit. This salad is definitely spicy, and very quick.

Warm Chipotle Chicken Salad - serves 1

1 Boneless skinless Chicken Breast
1 small red onion
5 or 6 mushrooms
1 heaped tsp Sainsbury's Spicy Chipotle Chilli Paste*
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salad leaves, cucumber & tomato

  • Cut the chicken into thin strips - I find that using a pair of scissors is easier than a knife
  • Slice the onion and mushrooms
  • Add the chicken, onion and mushrooms to a frying pan with the chipotle paste and water
  • Fry for approx 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through
  • Stir the olive oil into the pan
  • Toss the chicken through the salad and serve immediately



*I was sent the spicy chipotle chilli paste, along with some other ingredients from the Sainsbury's Speciality Ingredients range, to use in my recipes

Monday, 27 August 2012

Turkey & Apple Picnic Pies

I have been once again challenged by Lean on Turkey to come up with a family turkey meal for under £10. This time it's a Summer meal, so with this great Summer weather we're having recently (!!) I thought I would make something for a picnic. These individual turkey pies are great for picnics and can be eaten hot or cold with salad and coleslaw.

As the weather was so rubbish this bank holiday we ate ours at home with baked potatoes and salad. The recipe makes around 12 pies, plenty for a family picnic and costs under £6 in total, making them less than 50p each.

Turkey & Apple Picnic Pies

150g Butter, straight from the fridge, cut into small pieces
300g Plain Flour
pinch of salt
2 tsp dried Rosemary
3-4 tbsp cold water
garlic clove, crushed
tbsp olive oil
340g Turkey Breast steaks
454g good quality Pork & Apple sausages, skin removed
1 egg, beaten

  • Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs, alternatively use a food processor or mixer.
  • Stir in the salt and rosemary
  • Mix in the water, a little at at a time, until the dough starts to come together. You may not need to use all of the water so add it gradually, or add more if needed.
  • Form into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for approx 15 minutes.
  • In the meantime heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the crushed garlic and fry the turkey gently, taking care not to brown, until cooked almost through (it will finish cooking in the pies)
  • Allow the turkey to cool slightly and cut into small pieces
  • Roll the pastry dough out to about 2-3mm thick and using a pastry cutter (or cutting around a round object) cut 12 rounds large enough to fill a hole of a muffin pan
  • Use a smaller cutter to cut 12 rounds for the tops and set aside
  • Press the large rounds into each hole of the muffin pan
  • Place a small amount of sausagemeat into each pie and top with pieces of turkey, repeat the layers until all the pies are filled
  • Brush the sides of the pastry case with beaten egg
  • Place a pastry top onto each pie and press down and seal the edges with your fingertips, carefully sealing any gaps
  • Brush the tops of each pie with beaten egg & make a small slit to allow steam to escape
  • Bake in a 180 degree (C) oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown
  • Leave to cool slightly in the pan before removing
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raining outside - no surprise there!

This is a sponsored post, however the recipe is my own

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

Cheap n Cheerful Pasta

It's the school holidays, your kids want half the street to come for tea, but it's 5 o'clock and you haven't even given tea a second thought. This pasta dish is quick, easy and cheap and best of all very tasty (even Jack eats it all up). The kids love it and it only costs just over £1.50 to make 4 large portions using value pasta, beans & tomatoes.

You will need :

400g dried Pasta
1 Can chopped tomatoes
1 Can baked beans
1 Knorr Herb Infusions stock pot
100g Cheddar Cheese, grated

  • Boil the pasta as per instructions on the pack
  • Heat up the tomatoes and beans and stir in the stock pot and bring to the boil
  • Stir the cooked pasta into the sauce and mix well
  • Stir half of the grated cheese through the pasta and sauce and sprinkle the rest on top

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Thursday, 2 August 2012

Peanut Butter Cup Cups

Eating chocolate in the Summer can sometimes be a bit messy so here's a great way to eat your Peanut Butter Cups or Rolo's without getting chocolate all over your fingers.....well that's my excuse.


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I saw the recipe for these on Tara's blog, Sticky Fingers, here and made them for the sole purpose of using up some Reese's peanut butter cups that my Mum had bought us from the US and some condensed milk caramel that I had left over from cupcake baking.


We didn't manage to make as many as Tara said so I suspect our mini muffin pan was too big but no-one was complaining.


You will need :


200g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
75g butter, softened
25g ground almonds
50g caster sugar
1 egg
splash of milk
peanut butter cups/rolos/condensed milk caramel - or chocolate spread as per Tara's recipe

  • Beat the flour, cocoa powder, butter, almonds, sugar & egg together until it comes together
  • Add a splash of milk until it comes together in a ball
  • Make smaller balls and pop them into your mini muffin/tart pan and press each one to form a cup.....if you're not as posh as the Sticky Fingers household and don't have a 'tart shaper' then use the end of a small rolling pin or similar - we used the handle of a pizza roller - I bet you don't have one of those Tara!
  • Add your peanut butter cups/caramel/rolos/chocolate spread or whatever else you're using
  • Bake in a preheated 180 degree (C) oven for approx 10 minutes
  • Allow to cool on a cooling rack



Note: don't try and eat the caramel filled ones as soon as they've come out of the oven or you may get a burnt lip, don't then attempt to carry the fragile molten filled cup across the kitchen to put in the freezer for faster cooling or it may end in a sticky mess on the floor.*


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* of course this is hypothetical, it didn't actually happen to me *cough*





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