Simple Baked Southern Fried Chicken

Ok, sorry to remind you but we're approaching New Year and the time for those resolutions.  What will yours be this year?  Lose weight?  Stop smoking?

Have you ever noticed how resolutions are always about what we don't want rather than what we do want?  That's a bad thing because we're not wired that way.  Don't think about a pink elephant.  Go on, think about ANYTHING else apart from pink elephants.  Don't think about it.  You're thinking about it aren't you?  You can't help yourself!

Anyway, in general, I'm always of the opinion that a bit of what you actually fancy is better than 101 diet products.  Let's face it, if you buy diet biscuits, you eat more biscuits don't you?  Go on, we all know the truth...  So although I'm not a huge fan of dieting per se, I also managed to lose quite a lot of weight in the last two years.  You didn't know that about me did you?  I am now a shadow of my former UK size 16/18 self and am now a comfortable size 12, size 10 in Fat Face or White Stuff on a good day with a fair wind behind me (and size 8-10 in US terms which is even better!)

I can't pretend that I'm healthy all of the time either.  It's not true.  I do exercise but I also occasionally eat chips and, very occasionally, fried chicken.  But that said, I can't bring myself to actually fry chicken at home, I can feel my arteries hardening at the thought and there is something a bit gross about the extreme fattiness of it.  If I ever do buy fried chicken (from a certain well known High Street chain), I always drain it on the paper towels to make it a bit less greasy before eating.

So this recipe is good all round.  Lower in fat but also much less greasy which is a good thing and makes it tastier.  No frying smells to stink out the house and you can feel slightly more virtuous for having your cake (or chicken) and eating it!  Just don't eat 10 pieces because it's 'healthier'!

Southern 'baked' chicken - Makes 4 pieces

Ingredients

200ml, 7 fl oz Semi Skimmed (2% fat) milk
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 dried chilli
4 large chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
60g, 2oz Plain (all purpose) flour
2 tsp Paprika
80g, 2.5oz Cornflakes
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Spray oil

Method

Mix the milk with the mustard and chilli.  Soak the chicken in this mix for about an hour.

Crush the cornflakes then add to the flour, paprika, garlic powder and seasoning (miss out salt for very young kids).

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F / Gas Mark 6.

Take each piece of chicken out of the milk mixture.  Put each into the dry mix covering them, then onto a lined baking sheet.

Repeat with all of the pieces of chicken and then spray with the spray oil then put in the oven for 40 minutes, turning once.

The result was crunchy, gently spiced and tasty.  A hit with my 3 year old and me!

Mix it up; to make it more spicy if making just for adults or adventurous kids; use more chilli in the milk mix or a touch of cayenne pepper in the dry mix.

This would be great with coleslaw







So remember, when making your resolutions, think about what you do want this year, not what you don't and you never know, you might just achieve it!

I've linked this up to Nomday Monday and create, link inspire

Merry Christmas From Mamacook!

I hope Santa brought you everything you could wish for!

Merry Christmas!

Simple salt free poultry stock and how to make gravy

It's Christmas Eve Eve (i.e. the 23rd) and I picked up our goose yesterday from Seldom Seen farm.  Yes, goose is an extravagance but even at the pampered free range prices you're looking at less than £3 per portion for each meal we will eat it for.  You can't even get a meal in a Toby carvery for that!

So we're having goose but even if we have turkey I always make stock a day or two in advance.  I've been warned though that although you get masses of fat (great for roast potatoes) juices can be a bit thin on the ground with a goose so I'm making some stock.

Stock is stupidly easy to make.  Think about it as bones and water and you get the idea.  At other times of year I make stock from left over roast bones (especially chicken) but for Christmas it gets a bit special, albeit not expensive.


So why chicken wings?  It's all the skin, bones and stringy bits which make stock taste great and wings are not only cheap, they're full of that stuff.

Scared of giblets?  Get over it.  They are basically a free bit of the bird and full of flavour.  Use them!

Simple Poultry Stock - mine made approx 1 pint, just over half a litre of stock

Ingredients

Up to 1kg (approx 2lbs) of chicken wings - if you don't have any, it's still worth making but might not be as strongly flavoured
Turkey, chicken, duck or goose giblets (but not the liver; heart, and neck are great and any other bits and bobs they throw in)
2 Bay leaves
Water to cover

Method

You can just cook this from raw but to add extra flavour, I roast the wings first.  (It's all about the Maillard reaction if you want to know!)  Roast them for 40 mins approx at 200oC / 400F or until lovely and brown.  I do this on baking paper so I can get as much of the sticky brown bits off as possible.

A slow cooker is ideal for making the stock.  If you have one, put everything in, the giblets, roasted wings and bay leaves then boiling water to cover.  If you only have a sauce pan, do the same and put on the heat.

Bring to a boil on high on the slow cooker or on the hob then turn down and simmer with the lid on (or put on low) for approx 2 hours for the hob or 3-4 hours for a slow cooker.  Keep an eye on it if it's on the hob and add more water if needed.

Strain, remove any fat (see below), and taste.  If it tastes a bit weak, put into a saucepan and reduce (boil off some of the water) until it's flavourful (or you can do that later when you're making the gravy.)

Because this is totally salt free, it's great for gravy for babies or if you have too much, make some risotto.  Otherwise if you want to, mix with any juices from your roast bird on the big day (removing any fatty layer first) then heat to a boil.  Mix with cornflour / cornstarch paste (made by mixing cornflour with cold water in a cup then pouring in, whisking constantly) to thicken bringing back to the boil stirring constantly.  Start with 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed with about 1-2 tbsp water.  You might need more but you can't take it out once you put it in so add it slowly until it's at the consistency you like.  Add seasoning if you think it needs it.

I hope you have a very merry and very tasty Christmas!

Fat; goose fat is a marvellous thing and a tasty thing.  If you get a fatty lump in with your goose giblets, don't throw it away.  Put it in with your stock then, when it's cooling, scoop off the layer (the rendered fat) and save it for either putting on the goose thighs to help them not burn during cooking or for roasting your spuds!

How I decorated my Christmas cake (and I'm rubbish at this kind of stuff)

I'm no sugar crafter.  You will see this from my results but although an amateur, I am quite pleased with how my cake turned out this year and the big secret was, it was so easy.

There is no hard stuff here but I'll give it to you with all the short cuts...  You don't even need an icing bag!


I use ready made ready to roll marzipan and icing.  The first thing was to make the leaves.

Add some green food colouring to some ready to roll icing.  Try to avoid the "Southampton colours", especially if feeding to kids.  To do this, add in a few drops with a bit of icing sugar then kneed it in on a board (be careful, food colourings can stain).

Once the colour is consistent, roll it out.

I have some plunger cutters for some of the leaf types, otherwise I use cookie cutters.  If you don't have a plunger cutter for the markings, get a non poisonous leaf which hasn't been sprayed, e.g. a rose leaf and press the reverse side into icing.  Cut out the shapes.

Leave the leaves to dry, dry some on scrunched foil or on something cylindrical so they don't all dry flat.  This just looks a bit cooler!  If you like, either make some icing with slightly different shade of green or pick out the veins with additional colour.

Leave these to dry.  It might take a day or two if you do paint them with colour.

When you're ready to ice your cake, roll out the marzipan.  Warm up some apricot jam with a little water in a microwave.

Put your cake on the surface you're going to present it on, this might be a plate or a board.  Put it upside down so you have the flat side on top.

Brush the cake with the apricot jam then press on the rolled out marzipan, cutting off excess and moulding it with your hands.  Experience with play dough may be useful here...

Then boil some water while you're rolling out the icing.  Brush the marzipan layer with water then cover again with the icing.  This layer is a bit more forgiving than the marzipan.

Trim off the excess then add your decoration!

To make it stick or if you're right into the fancy icing stuff, mix some egg white with icing sugar until really stiff then use that for all that fancy icing stuff or to stick on your easy icing leaves.

Stand back and wait for admiration!  Leave it to dry out uncovered (but away from insects / pests / curious children and animals) for a few hours before covering.

Please add your Christmas cake pictures to my Facebook feed!

Merry Christmas from Mamacook!

Vegetable fritters - great for babies and toddlers on finger foods

After making my sweetcorn fritter recipe; I was determined there must be a good vegetable fritter recipe in me.  Look, I know courgettes (zucchini) aren't terribly seasonal at this time of year but they are still available in the shops and I'm sure you could substitute for another ingredient if you prefer.

This made a lovely, soft, pancake like texture which would be great for babies first finger foods, either alongside traditional weaning or as part of baby led weaning.

Vegetable Fritters - makes approx 10

Ingredients

40g, 1.5oz Self Raising flour (or plain, all purpose flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder)
1 egg
3 tbsp Milk
40g, 1.5oz Grated extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar
40g, 1.5oz Grated courgette (zucchini)

Spray oil or oil to cook.

Method

Mix the egg, milk and flour together to make a batter.  Whisk out any lumps.

Add in the courgette (zucchini) and cheese.

Preheat a non stick pan on a medium heat and oil lightly or use spray oil.  Fry tbsp of the mixture, probably about 3-4 max at any time until the bases are brown (better to cook too slowly rather than too quickly to ensure they cook through.)

Flip and cook the other side; maybe 2-3 minutes each side.

Serve with an assortment of vegetables.  My son really liked these.  The cheesiness is unexpected but really comes through.  This would be a great way to get some veggies into children who are a bit more fussy.

It just so happens that January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies'.  Is there a more appropriate challenge for Mamacook?  I think not!  So I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge:

No added sugar, nut free Granola

I find commercial granolas a bit too sweet if I'm honest and although my son loves things like this for breakfast, they're also pretty expensive and, as a three year old, there is still a choking risk on larger nuts.  Not of course if you make it yourself and control what goes in!  This is refined sugar free!

I have to be totally honest and say the chunks weren't all as quite as big as I would have liked but I suspect I might have to add more honey to make that happen.  There were some satisfyingly large bits though and a tasty and pretty healthy option for breakfast.

This should be for over 1's only due to the honey but also be guided by your child and their ability to chew the delicious chunky bits!  My son has been eating things like this since he was around 2 years old.

Raisin and Apple Granola makes around 400g (14oz)

Ingredients

2 tbsp Runny honey (substitute for golden syrup, maple syrup or agave nectar to make vegan)

2 tsp Oil (chose a mild, flavourless oil with high monounsaturates for health, like rapeseed)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

250g, 9oz Porridge oats

75g, 2.5oz Unsweetened dessicated coconut

4 tbsp Apple juice

2 tbsp Sunflower seeds

150g, 5.5oz Raisins

50g, 2oz Dried apple

Method

Preheat the oven to 170oC, 325F, Gas mark 3.

Mix the oats, coconut and seeds together in a bowl.

In a microwavable cup or jug mix the honey, vanilla, oil and juice.  Microwave for approx 30-45 seconds or until the honey mixes in well with the remaining liquids.

Pour the liquids over the dry mix and mix in well.  Turn onto a lined swiss roll tin and press into a layer.

Bake for approx 10 -15 minutes, give it all a stir and bake again for 5-10 more minutes; around 20 mins in total until you have crunchy browned pieces with no soggy bits.

Leave to cool then mix with the raisins, chopped up dried apple and pour into a sealable box (e.g. tupperware).

Serve with dairy or soy milk or yogurt and fruit.  My son loved this and suddenly wasn't quite so interested in Shreddies anymore!

I've linked this up here.

Make it Thrifty:

Look out for 'value' or 'smart price' packs of porridge oats, they work fine and are much cheaper than the branded varieties.

Turkey Sliders for all ages

A slider, so I'm told is a small burger.  I've mixed these up by making them with turkey (seasonal) but also sneaking in some hidden vegetables (why not) and a bit of spice!  These are super easy and healthy because they're made with white meat and baked not fried.

I do have a bit of love for sweet chilli sauce.  Although when my son was under 1 I diligently avoided giving him sugar as much as possible, I eased up as he got older.  Sweet chilli as an ingredient is a great way to introduce some gentle spicing in a way that is more predictable than using a small amount of chilli.

He tried some of my sliders with sweet chilli sauce but on balance preferred his served with ketchup.  Had I got any in the house, I would have served these with baked sweet potato wedges but I didn't so I served with cooked carrot sticks instead.  Might seem a bit strange but he loved it!

Turkey Sliders - made 5

Ingredients

125g, 4.5oz Minced (ground) turkey
60g, 2 oz Grated courgette (zucchini)
1 tbsp Thai style sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp chopped fresh Coriander (cilantro)

Method

Mush all of the ingredients together then shape into patties and chill on a tray lined with baking paper and covered with cling film (saran wrap).

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.  Remove the film and bake for approx 18 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve in small buns with lettuce and either sweet chilli sauce or tomato ketchup.  I have to admit I liked them and I'd be tempted to make them again just for me!

It just so happens that January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies'.  Is there a more appropriate challenge for Mamacook?  I think not!  So I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge: