Fried chicken!

I'm sure all of you have moments where you fancy something really specific.

Today, I really, really fancied fried chicken.

It was actually because Greg had been here a few days before, and so he and my grandparents kept talking about maybe going to KFC for lunch...

No KFC was had. So I made my own!

I've never actually made fried chicken before. I actually have a bit of a phobia of deep-frying things; something about a pan full of hot oil is enough to send me running.

Today, I faced my fear! And took my oil and eggs to arms.

Ingredients:

• Chicken pieces - on the bone is best, so drumsticks, thighs and legs are good. I used 6 pieces
• One or two eggs
• Seasoning - see below
• 1.5 cups vegetable oil (or any oil with a high smoke point)

I'm afraid I didn't take any in-progress pictures, so I'll do my best to explain everything here.

First, get your hob hot - medium high heat is good. Let your oil heat up. You're supposed to use a thermometer to get a certain temperature, but when it's bubbling a little bit, you're good.

In the mean time, set up two plates; one with some beaten egg, and the other with your seasoning.

For your seasoning, you can use pretty much anything. You'll want a base of flour and salt, but you can add whatever flavours you fancy; parsley, cumin, paprika; if it sounds like it'd go together, throw it in! 

I actually used a 'Maggie' packet sauce for a chicken and potato casserole as I'm at home and don't have any herbs or spices to hand. It turned out pretty well, so if you're really stuck a powdered sauce will work, too.

Dredge your chicken first in your seasoning, then in your egg and then back in your seasoning. Make sure to turn it over and coat well during each step.

Pre-heat your oven to 220C/200C fan, and get a baking tray with a wire rack set up on a work surface. Time to fry!

Drop in your chicken one at a time (or two if you've got room). The oil will bubble and foam. Count to like... 10-15 seconds, then turn. Then count again.

SAFETY WARNING: HOT OIL IS EVIL AND SPITS AT YOU AND BURNS. So, please be safety conscious! Don't have pan handles stuck out and always keep an eye on the pan. 

Take out your chicken with tongs and set to rest on your wire rack. Rinse and repeat until all your chicken has been fried.

You should now have a rack full of delicious fried chicken and a hot oven! Pop your chicken in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the juices run clear when you poke it. Done!

Serve with whatever you fancy. I went for a side salad and jacket potato. This isn't mine, though - as you can probably tell by the inclusion of tomatoes. :(

Much better! KFC, eat your heart out!

Lemon (and lime) drizzle cake - part 1!

My dear friend Sarah's 20th birthday was yesterday, and as part of her gift I decided to make her a birthday cake. I thought I'd  be a little adventurous, and so began my foray into the world of royal icing!

Candied limes (or any other fruit):

Ingredients:

•  Limes (or other fruit)      
• 1 cup water                      
• 1 cup white sugar            
• 2 tbsp caster sugar          

 Start out by slicing your fruit in thin discs or cubes. 

For citrus fruits, blanch them - drop them in boiling water for 30-45 seconds, then plunge them into ice cold water.

In a pan, boil enough water to cover all of your fruit. Add in 1 cup of sugar (or more if you're using a lot of fruit) and all of your fruit, then let it boil for 10-15 minutes until the pith (white bits) are starting to look a bit more translucent and the center is almost totally translucent.

Boil boil boil! Don't worry if it starts to bubble up - just ignore it, or take it off the heat for a few seconds if it starts to bubble over. Try not to disturb them too much; you don't want the sugar to crystallise.

Lay the fruit out on a wire rack to cool. Be careful -  hot sugar can cause nasty burns!

I don't have a picture of the next step, because my hands were absolutely covered in sugar, but essentially:

Get a small saucer, and add a few tablespoons of caster sugar. Pick up your fruit one at a time, coat them well in the sugar on both sides and lay it back down on the rack. You might need more than 2 tbsp, depending on how much sugar you feel like and the fruit you're using. 

Don't worry too much - just go crazy.

Wrap the rack up with cling and let everything cool and set in the fridge.

Tune in soon for the next post - making the lemon drizzle cake!

♥

Forest fruit strudels

It is no small secret that I love whipped cream. 

I also have a really bad habit of buying too much pastry because it's on offer...

So, today we are going to use some filo pastry to make some delicious fruit strudels!

You will need:

• Filo pastry (any multiple of 2 sheets)
• Fresh or frozen fruit - I used frozen forest fruits, but anything will work
• A few tablespoons of butter
• Brown sugar, Stevia or any other sweetener

 If you don't have any forest fruit berries to hand, you could always try...

Apple and sultana

Kiwi and blackberry

Peach and mango

Or whatever else you have lying around. If you have a fruit that browns, you'll also need some lemon juice.

Melt a few tablespoons of butter in a plastic container. I did one at a time, but I wasn't sure how much I'd need.

Lay out one sheet of pastry on your counter top, and brush it liberally with butter using a pastry brush.

Lay another sheet directly on top of it, and brush the top sheet with butter.

Cut your fruit into chunks, or if you're using berries, grab a handful. Make sure to toss browning fruit with lemon juice so it doesn't oxidize and go a funky colour.

Place a small handful of berries on your pastry, leaving a space at the bottom and sides. Coat with your sugar or sweetener - about a teaspoon should do.

Fold the two sides in on each other, and then fold the bottom up. Press gently to seal, and then...

Roll em up! Give them all a good brushing with butter on top and bottom, then dust with your sweetener and some cinnamon (my dusting skills leave much to be desired).

Pop them in a preheated oven at 200C until they're a nice golden brown - about 12 minutes, though it could take longer. Make sure you keep an eye on them in case they explode and leave a juicy mess everywhere.

And you're done! Let them cool on a wire rack, or eat one straight away with a healthy squirt of whipped cream. I was so excited, I didn't even take a whipped cream photo :(

You can have a photo of my dogs butt to compensate. 

♥

Thai green chicken curry

Today I found out that green beans and potatoes are great in Thai green curries!

While I admit to using jar sauce (curry for the lazy, and coconut milk is expensive!) it is delicious and easy to whip up pretty much any curry if you know what to put in it. 

It's a great use for any leftover veggies you have, and it'll usually taste pretty good no matter what you throw in.

What is your favourite type of curry?

♥

Food bonanza with Greg!

My wonderful Greg came to visit me last week! 

As thanks for him traveling so far to see me, I made him lots of yummies. To start with, I made delicious meatball marinara and spaghetti for when he arrived!

I will probably add a recipe for this at some point - it was really good!

A satisfied (and slightly surprised) customer!

For our romantic anniversary meal, we had baked salmon risotto. This plain fillet of fish was transformed into...

A wonderful dish! Greg ended up eating my tomatoes though... yuck :(

For dessert, I made surprise Dota 2 cupcakes with white chocolate and raspberry icing.

I miss him very much already! Food is a wonderful way to show your love.

♥

One potato, two potato, three potato, four!

Pork chop... and potato wedges!

Steak... and chips!

Twice baked stuffed... potato!

and a Superman 'movie snack'...?

Raspberry and chocolate cake

A friend of mine, Billy, is moving away to Australia to live with his girlfriend for a bit. When his sister (also my friend) invited me to his leaving 'do, of course I said yes! I wanted to have a nice catchup and see people.

Any excuse for a cake, eh? ;) 

It was a good job I brought one, too - I didn't know all that many people at all, but cake is an instant friend-maker. It went down a treat!

My tools of the trade: raspberries, some chocolate fudge ganache and two 24cm chocolate cakes.

I slathered the bottom of the bottom half (say what) with my ganache...

then made a huge mess with a piping bag and the rest of the ganache and some swirls!

The piping bag kept getting all... air-y? And then instead of coming out in a nice pattern it came out like spaghetti! I tried to cover it up.

The ganache was a pain in the butt to make. I accidentally forgot to use my whipping cream, so it was all... lumpy...

I didn't take a picture of that for good reason. It was grim.

Sooo I used the rest of the whipping cream with nowhere near enough chocolate, and it wouldn't set! I ended up putting another whole bar of dark cooking chocolate in, and it set into a nice fudgey chocolatey cream. 

Pop em together, whack on some raspberries and a little dusted sugar and wham! Delicious fancy looking cake.

It was wonderful and moist and everybody loved it, especially Billy! Fancy looking cakes don't have to be difficult, especially if you put swirls on it (even if they're a bit wonky). 

♥