BLUEBERRY AND LEMON MILLEFEUILLE

SOMETIMES, I say to myself when I see master chef desserts "Girl, you can never pull this one up", but I keep on trying and trying. Pushing my own limits. yesterday, for example, I wanted to surprise my LDNboy with a special dinner and dessert and I spent hours looking at cake recipes, and what not. Most of them needed equipment I wouldn't dare even dream of, others where easy to make but not impressive enough and then I came across a BBC recipe for millefeuille( basically a fancy word for puff pastry) I thought, ok, I haven't done this for while, almost 2 years in fact! And so I through away my slippers, put some clothes on and went hunting for ready puff pastry.

INGREDIENTS:

115g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

250g shop-bought puff pastry

200g blueberries

For the sweetened cream

165ml whipping cream

25g icing sugar

1 vanilla pod, seeds only (or alternatively 2 drops of vanilla extract)

1 lemon, finely grated zest and a squeeze of the juice 

PREPARATION: 

Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. Dust the work surface with lots of icing sugar and roll out the pastry to a rectangle just larger than 27 x 30cm/10½ x 12in, trimming the edges straight. It should be super thin, as thin as you can get it, without stretching the pastry. Cut out 18 rectangles about 9cm/3½in long and 5cm/2in wide and place them on the prepared baking tray. Sprinkle with lots of icing sugar and put in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C. Remove the pastry from the fridge and bake in the oven for five minutes, then remove from the oven and sprinkle the pastry with more icing sugar. Return to the oven and bake for a further five minutes, or until the pastry turns golden-brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. For the sweetened cream, put the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and whip until medium-stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Fold in the lemon zest and juice, to taste, then scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/½in straight nozzle. Place one of the pastry thins on a serving plate. Pipe blobs of cream over the pastry and put the blueberries between the cream, then put another pastry thin on top and repeat with one more layer. Sprinkle the top layer with more icing sugar and repeat until all the pastry and cream is used up. And that is all. Simple, easy, the result is professional and the boyfriend was left mesmerized!

I hope you try the recipe as well!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy!

CHICKEN PARMESAN WITH PASTAAA

So weekly pasta challenge is here and I have done miracles people. This chicken is THE CHICKEN OF MY LIFEEEEEEEE!!!! Thank you http://www.myrecipes.com for this recipe!!!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 ounce sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil

1 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cups chopped red bell pepper

1 cup chopped onion

2 cans diced tomatoes, undried

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

Chicken:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 skinned, boned chicken breast halves

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon olive oil

Cooking spray

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

3 cups hot cooked linguine 

PREPARATION:

To prepare the tomato sauce, combine sun-dried tomatoes and water in a bowl; cover and let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain and finely chop tomatoes.
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sun-dried tomatoes, bell pepper, and onion; sauté 7 minutes. Stir in canned tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley, basil, vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and garlic.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
To prepare chicken, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a shallow dish. Place each breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; flatten to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Dip each breast half in egg white; dredge in flour mixture. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes on each side or until golden. Arrange in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour the tomato sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Serve over linguine.

WEEKLY PASTA WITH RICH LEMON CHICKEN YUMMYYYYYY

INGREDIENTS:

Olive or sunflower oil 1 tbsp

Chicken thighs 1kg or 6, skinned, boned, meat cut into chunks

Onion 1, peeled and chopped

Lemon 1, grated zest and juice

Chicken stock 300ml

Fresh thyme sprigs 2, or ½ tsp dried

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Egg yolks 2

Parsley or chives small bunch, finely chopped

Cooked macaroni or small pasta shapes to serve

PREPARATION:

Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the cubed chicken. Fry for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Push the chicken to one side of the pan, then add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until softened. Add the lemon zest and juice, then the stock, thyme and a little salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, stirring, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Scoop the chicken out of the pan with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Beat the egg yolks together in a bowl, then gradually beat in the hot stock and onions until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until it has lightly thickened. Return the chicken to the pan and stir in the chopped herbs. Serve with cooked pasta, if using.

Always yours,

The Cookboook Fairy

CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE FOR THE MINIONS

INGREDIENTS: 

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugaR

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs, slightly whisked

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup ripe bananas, smashed

chocolate cream cheese frosting

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tablspoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon cocoa

2 cups powdered sugar

PREPARATION: 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x9" baking dish. In a standing mixer, combine the butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Whisk well. Alternating between the dry ingredients and banana, add a little of each to the butter mixture, mix a little and then add a little banana, and back and forth until you've used everything up. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Ours was 26 minutes. 

ENJOY!!!!!
Always yours,
The Cookbook Fairy!

PEPPERONI PIZZA FROM SCRATCH

I know you all love pizza, and pizza is the best fast meal for a lazy dinner/ lunch when you don't need to impress anyone but yourself. So here is my pizza recipe that I am sure you all know and can do!

INGREDIENTS: 

for the dough:

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110° to 115°) 

2 tablespoons oil 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon sugar  

2-3/4 to 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

for the topping

3 tablespoons tomato sauce

250g cheddar

150g salami 

PREPARATION:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, salt, sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. Arrange the tomato sauce, the salami and the cheddar on top of the dough. Throw into the oven on 200C fan for 20 minutes and you are done!

 

Enjoy!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy

THE KEY TO THE PERFECT CHICKEN & RICE RECIPE

OK so the trick is, as aways with the meat... I didn't knew that for a long while, but one day I felt like experimenting a bit and it just happened! Magic exists in the kitchen people! I'm tellin' ya!!!!

INGREDIENTS:

300g chicken fillets

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons brown sauce

1 teaspoon mixed seasonal spices

1 pinch black pepper

1 pinch paprika

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup of rice

3 cups water

1 pinch of salt

PREPARATION:

This is how to prepare this amazing meal. The first thing you need to do is boil the rice. Water, rice, salt - you know how to do that, and put them in a bowl people, not like my nephew who puts them directly on the stove giving the angelic expression of little devil. Meanwhile, you need to chop the chicken fillets into bites, or you can  just buy them already chopped, we are living in a modern world after all they have everything chopped these days! Then you preheat the frying pan with the 2 tablespoons of oil in it. You throught in the meat, the mayonnaise, the brown sauce, the black pepper, the paprika and the mixed spices and you cook it until it is brown and you start drooling all over the pan, because I promise you the aroma, all the aroma is ..... mouthwatering!!!!

After you are done with the rice and the meat you through them into a deep baking tray, you add some more oil and you cooked them in the oven for 15min on 200C fan&grill so that the rice gets the smell of the chicken. And one thing which is VERY IMPORTANT: you'll have some of the mayonnaise/brown sauce left in the pan, don't through it away put it in the baking tray as well!!!!!

And this is it! My secret chicken and rice recipe!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy

APPLE PIE IS ALL YOU NEED IN A RAINY DAY

YOU know I haven't forgotten you guys, right? I am so sorry I have been back on recipes for a couple of days but I had some other issues to deal with. I have this pain in my right shoulder that is absolutely killing me I cannot even pick up a bottle of water what is left for cooking properly. This is the first time a write and it is taking me quite the time to stumble through the word with my left hand so be patient with me I promise I will make it up to you!!!!

I read somewhere you can never go wrong with an Apple Pie and here it is, the very proof of this. I made an apple pie with my left hand, the dough didn't come out right as it was expected and still the result blow my mind! Not to mention how the whole house smelled of fall and cinamon! I can't wait to share the recipe with you, little crumbs!

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough:
     300 g flour
     100 g sugar
     0.5 tsp salt
     200g cold butter
     1 egg
     2 tablespoons ice-cold water
For the filling:
     '60 Breadcrumbs
     8 apples
     100 g sugar
     '60 Raisins
     4 tsp cinnamon
     2 tablespoons starch
additionally:
     1 egg yolk with a little cream

PREPARATION:

For the dough pour flour on the counter and do a well in it. In the well tap the egg and add the sugar, salt, diced butter & water. With your fingers, mix the products in the well and gradually make a smooth dough. Flatten the dough and wrap it in cling film. Place the dough in a refrigerator for 30 minutes. For the filling peel apples and clean them from seeds. Cut them into thin slices and put them in a large bowl. add sugar, drained pre-soaked raisins in water / for 10-15 minutes / cinnamon and starch. Mix well. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut 1/3 or a little less of it for the stripes. The larger piece of dough, roll out on floured countertop. You should end up with a large circle with thickness of 2 mm. Brush with butter the bottom and sides of spring form with a diameter of 22 cm. With a rolling pin, transfer the dough in it and match the bottom and walls. Cut excess dough. Sprinkle the bottom with bread crumbs and pour the filling. Squeeze very good apples. Roll out the remaining dough on floured surface. Cut it into strips with a width of 1.5 cm each, using a pizza cutter. Arrange strips on the pie, as a grid. Grease a pie with beaten yolk with a little cream. Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 1 hour.

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy

HOMECOOKED BURGER BUNS

OK, so here is the most amazing buns recipe I could improvise for the little time I had in between cooking the meat and panicking

INGREDIENTS:

350-400g flour

20g butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pack dry yeast

100ml hot water

1 egg

pinch of salt 

seasonal mixed spices ( as much as you want)

PREPARATION:

I made the dough in 5 minutes and left it to rise for 1 hour. I made balls, screw them for 20 minutes, then rolled them to become flat cakes with a diameter of 7-8 inches. Left them to rise for another 20 minutes, then coat them with beaten egg, sprinkled them with susamche and push them in the oven. I
 You bake them for 15 minutes in a preheated 200 ° C oven. 

After improvise according to your own taste! Whom mustard, whom with onions, complete freedom and complete destruction of cakes and meatballs!

KFC CHICKEN BURGER !!!!!

SO far, little crumbs, this has been the most challenging and scary recipe I have done ever since I am in LDN. I was so afraid it won't work that my hands were shaking all the time. I think I might have driven my LDNboy crazy by asking him 1000000000 times "Does it taste like KFC, is it good?" or "Is it good enough to share with the rest of the world?" Well guess what it was so good he wants a double take it and we are dinning chicken burgers again! This, of course, means I would be one recipe short today, but who cares! As long as it worked! I won't babble along, don't worry :P Here it is the long awaited ingredients and preparation for the chicken:

INGREDIENTS:

4 small chicken fillets

3 cups of water

2 tablespoons salt

1/2 cup of flour

1 slice of bread made into crumbs

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground savory

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 eggs

4 tablespoons semi-skimmed milk

2 mini gherkins

mayonnaise

PREPARATION:

In a bowl you mix the water and the salt. Add the chicken fillets and leave for two hours. After the 2 hours pass you dry the fillets an put them in a dish. In another bowl you beat the eggs and you add the milk. In a third bowl you prepare a mixture of the well mixed flour and all the spices. After that you take one fillet you put in first in the egg mixture then you roll it in the flour mixture. After you put the fillets in a baking tray ( !!!! Spray the paper in the baking tray with vegetable oil & spray some of the oil on the already rolled fillets, so that it sticks). After all fillets have been dipped and rolled you throw them in the preheated oven on 200C fan for 40-45mins.

Mean while you need to fry some French fries and that's it. For those of you who want to make the hamburger buns themselves I will post the recipe in a couple of minutes (http://cookbookfairy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/homecooked-burger-buns.html). After everything has been cooked you arrange the burger as you like and destroy all the meat and food you can eat!!!!

I didn't believe  it would taste like KFC chicken, but it does, guys, it does!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy

SWEET & SALTY MINI PANCAKES

BECAUSE  it is Sunday and by default and tradition my LDNboy and I have a special lazy/ creative attitude towards it we decided to try out my new mini frying pan and guess what with pancakes size doesn't matter they are still as tasty as if they were giants!

Here are the ingredients for my midget pancakes:

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk

2 drops oil for the pan

PREPARATION:

Preparation is easy. All you need is a mixer, a bowl and all the ingredients from above. You put them all in the bowl and you turn on the electrical whisk or the mixer and voila! Then you make the pancakes in the pan.... 

After that comes the party! I like salty pancakes with cheese and meat and stuff like that, my LDNboy likes them with Nutella... Honey etc. Pick your favourite and enjoy the Sunday morning  with a smile!

Always YOURS,

LDN GIRL

HOMECOOKED LASAGNA

THE best thing about making lasagna at home is that you can experiment with everything. For this lasagna I basically relied on the traditional Italian recipe but with a little twist for cheese lovers, like myself. So here are the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

200g lasagna sheets( because it is for 4 portions)

500g pork mince

1 red paprika

4 tablespoons tomato sauce

5 teaspoons red pepper

6 tablespoons oil

1 clove garlic

200g cheddar

100g yellow cheese

white lasagna sauce Dolmio 500g

instant mushroom sauce

PREPARATION:

The first thing you need to do is spice your mince. Then you fry it in a pan with the garlic and the red pepper until in s brown. Then you add the tomato sauce and the red paprika and leave it to cook for around 15min. Meanwhile you prepare the mushroom sauce in a deep pan with a spoon of the white lasagna sauce and 2 spoons of yogurt. After the sauces are ready all you need to do is put them into layers in a baking tray. 1 layer lasagna sheets, 1 layer mince, 1 layer white sauce, 1 layer cheddar and you repeat this arrangement until you products are over. Then you pour the mushroom sauce and put some more cheddar and yellow cheese on the very top. Then you cook it in a pre-heat oven on 200C fan for 40mins. You serve it warm and my personal tip here is with yogurt!

Enjoy!!!!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy

A LEFTOVERS TRICK

THE problem when cooking or ordering Chinese food is that there are almost always leftovers. A trick I learned from my LDNboy is that you can always add noddles to the rice and a little bit of soy sauce an if you are adventurous even some broccoli or carrots! It was pleasure giving you that tip!

ENJOY!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy

CHICKEN FILLET & FRENCH FRIES

OK, ok, ok, ok I learned to do this while I was still living in Brussels and so far I am convinced it is the most amazing way to cook chicken! Why you might ask... The meat never gets dry it is always creamy, and buttery, and mouthwatering! And the best part is, it is not heavy on the stomach at all, and believe me my tummy is quite the sensitive chap! But you need to know you need 24hours to get it right!

INGREDIENTS:

7 tablespoons mayonnaise

7 tablespoons soy sauce

800g chicken fillet

100ml white wine

50ml water

500g potatoes

2 tablespoons salt

mixed seasonal spices

500ml oil for the frying of the potatoes

PREPARATION:

The day prior you're gonna eat the chicken fillet you need to prepare a mixture of the soy sauce and the mayonnaise. You roll the fillets into that mixture very well and cover the bowl with cling film and leave them in the fridge for 24 hours... It works with 4  hours as well, but I have discovered it works best with 24 hours.  On the next day you pour the mixture and the fillets into a tray and add the wine, the water and the seasonal mix and put them into the pre-heated oven on 200C fan for around 40-45min. Meanwhile you cut the potatoes, rinse them out and put them in a bowl with the salt. You leave them for 15 minutes. You heat up the oil and then you fry the potatoes. By that time the meat should be almost ready. Once it is done you serve it warm with the French Fries and you pour yourself a good old Belgium Duvel and enjoy it. Your husband will forget about barbecue once he tries this out!

I hope you try out the recipe!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy

LATE MORNING CROISSANTS WITH NUTELLA

I am so, so, so, so happy from what I did this morning that I can't stop jumping around in the yard. Even the neighbour's cat came by to see what is going on! I made my first croissants with dough that is not for croissants at all, but they are mighty tastyyyy, I am tellin' you! I would have invited you for a tea party, but there were no survivors after breakfast - R.I.P Croissants, you took well care of us!

So here is the recipe! I promise, it isn't difficult. It is fast and clean and the result left me stunned! I learned the recipe for a Russian lady that lived next us in my hometown. Спасибо!

INGREDIENTS:

350g flour

90g melted butter

16g sugar

2 eggs size L

75ml milk

30g sour cream

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

a jar of Nutella for the filling (obviously you won't need the whole of it)

PREPARATION:

Step number one is melt the butter in a deep saucepan! Add the sugar, one of the eggs and the cream. Stir the mixture very well. This is very important now: Start adding the flour: 100g flour -> stir... the next 100g flour-> stir. Add the milk and the last of the flour with the baking soda an salt. Stir until it becomes a very well mixed dough. Or you can't just put it in the dough machine if you have one. once you are done with that part you need to put some flour on the table and roll the dough. It has to be really thin a few millimeters. Then cut triangles from it. Once you have that be hing your back it is easy-peasy. You pre-heat the oven on 180C fan and start filling the croissants with chocolate or whatever you have decided to put in. You roll them from the wider side of the triangle to the point and you start putting them in the  baking tray ( you absolutely have to put baking paper beneath them). After all croissants are ready you grease them with the last scrambled egg and that it is. You through them in the oven and you do your little croissant lady dance!!!

I hope you enjoy!!!

Always yours,

The Cookbook Fairy