February was great. It was filled with all sorts of foodie fun experiments. Here is just one of them! Now, I know Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) was on the 12th of February, which is why I've expressed in the title of this post it's delayed, but this is sort of worth holding out for! My housemate, who is a fancy photography student, took this beautiful photo of her amazing pancake creation! - Delicious crisp, yet fluffy pancakes (made with the greatest & simplest batter), coated in a thin layer of +Nutella chocolate spread, topped with sliced banana, chopped strawberries, and a handful of blueberries. How magic does that sound!? HOWEVER, my other housemate may have topped this... with her crazy, creative, collaboration... Pancake, coated in a thin layer of MARMITE, topped with cooked CHICKEN, and sprinkled with sliced ham & grated cheese. INSANE? Yes. But, surprisingly good! I kid you not. Try something different once in awhile, you never know. You may just discover something great!
Recently my housemates have both been buying chicken Kiev's. I have not, or rather had not, had one in ages! I had however already bought a lot of things for my fridge and freezer so therefore had no room for chicken Kiev's... I realised though that I did have some chicken breasts in the freezer, garlic in the cupboard, along with a nice pot of herb crumb (from M&S fancy) and regular breadcrumbs. I decided if I really wanted one, I could make one myself. Which obviously, I did. :) I mixed some chopped garlic with some butter. Flattened out my chicken breast (which I defrosted earlier), cut a pocket into the side of the chicken and spooned in the garlic butter. I then coated it in flour, beaten egg and the combo crumb mixture. I repeated the coat of egg and crumbs a second time for extra crumbly-ness. I then baked it in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes. It was really tasty. I had mine with mash and steamed vegetables. It would go nicely with lots of other things to though! Try it. :)
This is my Dad's recipe for a really tasty, simple stir fry. First of all you have to marinade chicken (or whatever meat you fancy!) in chopped garlic and soy sauce. That part is really important! It gives the meat all of the flavour. Then, you can add whatever vegetables you want with it - We normally go for mushrooms, peppers, and onions! - Mainly because they're easy, but you could go all out and get some spring onions and pak choi (that would also be nice!) My Dad doesn't tend to add chilli or ginger in this recipe, even though with garlic they are the three main ingredients to any Chinese dish (pretty much). Once you have browned off the chicken, put it aside and then stir fry the veggies. Meanwhile get a pan of water on the go for either your noddles or rice. (We often have noodles). Then once the vegetables are about cooked add the chicken back to the pan, taste as well, to see if you need any more seasoning or soy sauce. Then once the noodles have boiled for a couple of minutes, drain them off, toss them in some oil (peanut is nice) and then combine it with the other ingredients. Finish with some fresh coriander. Voila! ...Plus, I like this with some green tea. :)
