Recipe: Easy Chicken Tikka Masala

This recipe is a family favourite which I discovered in an old issue of Little Treasures magazine. The kids are I enjoy cooking it together and it is a great, simple version of a popular dish. It is an adaptation from Simon Holst and all the usual hotness has been removed so it is great for children.

Ingredients

2 Tb canola oil

1 medium onion, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

2-3 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

500g boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

400g can of tomato soup

1/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup cream or evaporated milk

2 tsp honey

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp salt

1-2 Tb chopped fresh coriander

Method

1. Heat 1 Tb of the oil in a large pan, add diced onion, garlic and ginger. Cook, stiring frequently, until the onion is soft and clear but has not browned (about 5 minutes). Remove from pan and set the onion mixture aside.
2. Add the remaining 1 Tb oil to the pan and add chicken. Cook until lightly browned, then stir in cumin, coriander, and turmeric and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute longer.
3. While the chicken cooks, put the slightly cooled onion mixture in a blender or food processor. Add the tomato soup and process until smooth.
4. When the chicken and spice mixture is ready, pour the tomato mixture into the pan, along with the cream and water. Stir to combine and allow the mixture to boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 5-8 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding the salt only if required, and reheat without boiling. Serve over steamed rice, accompanied with poppadoms and naan bread (if you are feeling fancy). Enjoy! :)

Back To School Treats: Double Chocolate Muffins

My family are not the greatest fans of muffins...but these scrumptious ones are an exception. Perfect as a back to school treat!

Double Chocolate Muffins

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

1/2cup sugar

100 grams melted butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup strong cocoa drink (the original recipe calls for strong coffee but we are not coffee drinkers!)

1 cup chocolate chips

Method

Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl, stir in sugar. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Melt butter. Beat egs and cocoa drink together. Add butter,egg mixture and chocolate chips to the dry ingredients. Mix quickly with a fork until ingredients are just combined. Three quarter fill greased deep muffin tins with mixture (I often use cupcake wrappers to save time). Bake at 190 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly touched. Serve warm and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 10-12.

I bake most weekends to prepare for the school week ahead and these muffins keep well and are a great addition to your repertoire.

Donna Hay's Mango and Banana Gelato Recipe

I am a huge fan of Australian author and food stylist, Donna Hay. At the moment her Fast, Fresh and Simple television series is screening here in New Zealand and I have fallen in love with this delicious, simple summer recipe.

It is a super easy to make, very healthy and although I don't really like mangos on their own, I LOVE them in this recipe! Rosie and I decided to make this after we had some leftover mango at Christmas and we were able to make this together with minimal fuss and effort.

Donna Hay's Mango and Banana Gelato

2 bananas chopped (We used three as we wanted a more banana flavour)

3 mangos chopped (We used one as that is all we had!)

280 grams thick, natural (sweetened or unsweetened, depending on your tastes) or vanilla yoghurt

 That is it! As you can see, you can adapt your quantities quite easily with this recipe, depending on what you have.

1. Place the banana and mango in a sealed container and freeze for 2–3 hours or until frozen. Place the frozen fruit and yogurt in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Serve immediately or place in a sealed container and freeze. After freezing allow to soften for 5 minutes before serving.

This is a great guilt-free alternative to ice-cream and has the taste of summer. Give it a go!

Delicious Christmas Cake Recipe

Making my own Christmas cake is something I have always wanted to do, but never attempted...until recently! Taff and I love Christmas cake but we usually leave it to my mum to make, as she does a very yummy one. I was talking to a co-worker a few weeks ago who said that she was planning to make her Christmas cake that weekend, so I asked if she could bring me in her recipe.

 I gathered together all my ingredients one afternoon and gave it a go and it was so satisfying to finally be making my own cake! This recipe is fantastic as it doesn't have to be prepared months, or even weeks in advance. It is able to be made and eaten immediately, or you can make and store it just as you would a traditional Christmas cake. Either way, it is delicious!

Belinda Jeffery's Last Minute Christmas Cake

300 grams unsalted butter, chopped

420 grams raw sugar

380 grams raisins

180 grams pitted prunes

160 grams sultanas

90 grams currants

90 grams piited dried dates

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup (125 ml) brandy or rum (I used orange juice!)

2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 1/2 cups (400 grams) wholemeal plain flour (I used plain white flour)

100 grams pecan halves and 50 grams raw almonds to decorate (optional)

Melt butter in a pan large enough to fit all ingredients. Add the sugar amd stir for 1-2 minutes to partially dissolve. Add the fruit, soda, brandy (or juice!) and 1 1/2 cups (325ml) water. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 4 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool to room temperature in pan. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celcius (fan forced). Grease 23cm springform pan and line with buttered baking paper.

Stir in nutmeg, cinnamon and eggs into the fruit mixture. Mix in flour and stand for a few minutes. Pour into pan and level the top. If using nuts, make a single ring around the edges or cover top in concentric circles. Bake for 2 hours 30 minutes or until cake feels firm in the middle and a skewer comes out clean. (After an hour or so, check the top; if it's a good rich brown, cover loosely with foil). Cool cake completely in pan, then remove and store in an airtight container for immediate consumption, or in plastic wrap, foil or newspaper for longer term storage.

Chocolate Weetbix Crunch

There are times when you NEED something sweet and you need it FAST! This is my 'go to' recipe when I am feeling my family are feeling like a quick sweet treat. :)

Chocolate Weetbix Crunch (Microwave)

100 grams butter

1 Tb golden syrup

1 cup white flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tb cocoa

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup crushed weetbix (approx 2 biscuits)

Melt butter and golden syrup in a mixing bowl at 50% power for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir until melted and add remaining ingredients. Press into an oblong dish (I use a glass Pyrex one) approximately 27cm x 17cm and cook at 70% for 5 minutes.

Mark into squares and cut while hot.

Sprinkle with icing sugar or chocolate icing when cool.

I am the type of person that hates to waste anything so I make this recipe when we get to the bottom of a Weetbix box. It is perfect for using up all the "crumbs" in the bag and is a great lunchbox filler which you can whip up in no time. :)

Super Easy Chocolate Balls

I have a super fast and easy recipe for you today. :) These chocolate balls take only minutes to make and use regular store cupboard ingredients. They are perfect for when you need a fast chocolate dessert to take to a friend's house or to enjoy as a treat with your family.

Easy Chocolate Balls

Ingredients

1 packet of plain sweet biscuits such as milk arrowroot, round wine, etc

1 can of condensed milk

2 tablespoons cocoa

Small bowl of coconut

Method

1. Crush the biscuits in small batches using a food processor or placing them in a plastic bag and using a rolling pin to crush them into very small pieces. Place crumbs into a bowl.
2. Add the cocoa and condensed milk to the crumb mixture and mix thoroughly.
3. Shape into small balls and roll in coconut.
4. Leave to set in the fridge for 30 minutes and then they are ready to eat!

Enjoy. :)

Breadmaker Recipe: My Favourite White Loaf

Do you have a breadmaker? Do you love it as much as we do? Today I thought I would share my favourite white loaf recipe. It is super quick, easy and delicious. I have tried many recipes but always keep coming back to this one, you really can't go wrong with it.

Basic White Loaf

1 + 1/4 cup + 2 Tb warm water

2 Tb oil

2 tsp sugar

1 + 1/2 tsp salt

3 cups high grade flour

2 Tb milk powder

3 tsp Surebake or breadmaker yeast

 This makes a 750gram loaf and all you do is bung everything into your bread pan in the order listed above, set the menu to the standard white loaf, choose your crust preference and be patient. In about three hours your house will smell delicious and you will have a perfect white loaf to enjoy! :)

Carrot Cup Cakes

This carrot cupcake recipe is absolutely delicious and is definitely a real favourite of mine. I cannot take the credit for it myself, I got it from my good friend Sarah and have made it many times since then. You really should give it a go, they are super scrummy!

Carrot Cupcakes: Fern Cafe

1/2 an orange (skin included)

3 eggs

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 cups self-raising flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

2 cups grated carrot

3/4 cup crushed pineapple drained

Preheat oven to 180c.

Lightly grease muffin pans (I use cupcake wrappers instead to save time).

1. Chop the orange, remove pips and blend.
2. Beat eggs lightly, then add sugar, oil and vanilla. Beat again until creamy.
3. Sift in the flour, cinnamon and salt. Whisk until lightly mixed.
4. Add the carrot, pineapple and blended orange.
5. Bake for 25 minutes at 180c until skewer comes out clean and cool on a wire rack.
6. When cool, ice with cream cheese icing and garnish with chopped apricot and pumpkin seeds.

Cream Cheese Icing

125 grams cream cheese

2 cups icing sugar

50 grams soft butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

Beat ingredients together (do not add water)

This recipe makes quite a few cupcakes and these are perfect for taking to shared morning teas and occasions where you need to "bring a plate". :)

Perfect Playdough!

We love playdough in our family and I am constantly amazed at how long a batch will keep the kids entertained for!

It is so easy and cheap to make and is a great way to get creative on a Saturday afternoon.

On this day we had few colour options available so we used the one bottle of red food colouring we had and got to it.

The recipe we use is quick to prepare and you will have a big ball of warm playdough in your hands before you know it.

Here is the recipe we use for perfect playdough.

1 Tb Cooking Oil

1 Cup Flour

2 Tsp Cream of Tartar

1 Cup Water

1/2 cup Salt

2 Tsp Food Colouring

Mix ingredients together in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until dough is no longer sticky and gathers together in a large blob. Take pan off stove immediately. Turn out onto floured board and knead until smooth.

Have fun! :)

Busy Day Meal Idea: Spicy Beef Noodle Stir Fry

This is a great recipe to whip up on a busy night. It is inexpensive, fast and my family love it. I often serve it on rice instead of noodles and have successfully substituted the beef for chicken.

Ingredients

440g flat rice noodles

1/3 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoons brown sugar

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice

1 tablespoon oil

500g beef mince

Assortment of stir fry vegtables, chopped and diced

Method

1. Prepare and cook noodles. Combine stock, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and Chinese five spice in a small bowl.
2. Heat wok or large frypan, add half the oil and brown the mince for 5 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate. Heat the remaining oil and add the vegetables. Stir fry fry for 2-3 minutes until the vegetables are bright in colour, tender and crisp.
3. Add the stock mixture, mince and noodles to the pan. Stir fry for 2 minutes or until noodles are soft and heated through.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Annabel's Thai Chicken Curry

Ask Rosie and Harry what their favourite dinner is and they will tell you straight away...chicken and rice. They love any variation of chicken and rice that you can possibly think of but this recipe is always a favourite. Enjoy. :)

Annabel's Thai Chicken Curry

1 tsp vegetable oil

1-2 Tb green curry paste (I also use red at times)

400ml can coconut cream

 1 and 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 Tb fish sauce

finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon

1kg chicken breast

salt and ground black pepper

Optional:

Curry leaves or fresh kaffir lime leaves

Garnish:

6-8 sliced spring onions and 1/2 cup toasted cashew nuts

Method

Heat oil in a large pan and fry curry paste for 1 minute. Add coconut cream, stock, fish sauce, lemon rind and optional curry or lime leaves.Simmer for 10 minutes and then add the diced chicken. Reduce heat to low, cover tightly and heat for 5-6 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Season to taste and garnish with spring onion and cashew nuts. Serve with rice...of course!

Banana Bread Recipe

One of my best friends in high school gave me this recipe and I have made it countless times ever since. It is perfect for using up those bananas in the fruit bowl that are nearing their use by date!

Esther's Banana Bread

Ingredients:

100 grams butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 cups self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons skim milk

1/4 cup chopped pecan nuts (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon, mixed with 1 teaspoon sugar (topping)

Method:

1. Grease and cover base of loaf tin.
2. Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in bananas.
3. Fold in sifted dry ingredients alternatively with skim milk. Stir in nuts (optional), pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
4. Cook in a moderate oven, 180 degrees for 55 minutes until cooked.
5. Let the loaf stand for 5 minutes before putting on a wire rack to cool.

Hope you enjoy it! :)

Annabel Langbein

I love Annabel Langbein and Mum and I were big fans of her free range cook television series. I also love cookbooks so when my friend Sarah recommended The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives, I knew I had to have it. It is fantastic!

There are more than 600 recipes and it is a joy to read, before you even get to cooking the recipes from it!

I have already tried out some of the recipes and everything is simple and delicious. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a cookbook which covers everything from everyday dinners to special occasion meals.

Thanks Sarah for the heads up on this one, it is my new favourite book. :)

Quick Dinner Recipe: Tasty Self-Crusting Quiche

We all know what it is like when we need a quick dinner idea fast and it is the day before grocery shopping. I was in exactly that situation a few days ago and I rediscovered my tasty self-crusting quiche recipe. It uses store cupboard ingredients, is very healthy and is super fast to put together. Just the ticket for a busy Friday night!

Tasty Self-Crusting Quiche

Ingredients

1 x can of whole kernel corn

4 spring onions (chopped)

1/2 cup self-raising flour

3/4 cup trim milk

2 eggs

1 cup grated cheese

2-3 firm tomatoes

black pepper

paprika (optional)

Method

Put drained corn into a 20-30cm dish and cover with spring onions. At this stage you can also add any other extras you like such as ham and other vegetables. Mix flour, milk, eggs, black pepper and half the cheese. Lightly beat with a fork and pour over the corn. Slice two tomatoes and place over the top of the quiche, sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Add another sliced tomato if you want and sprinkle with paprika if you have it.

Cook at 220 degrees for 20-30 minutes. The quiche is cooked when it is golden brown and the centre is firm. Enjoy!

Recipe Organisation

Folders for mains, desserts and baking

 Just a quick organisation tip for your recipes. If you are anything like me, you enjoy tearing out recipes from magazines to try at a future date.

Oh dear, not a good look at all

I didn't have a very good system for these tearouts and it wasn't long before they were becoming a menace everytime I opened the cupboard.

Calm is created out of chaos!

I popped out and picked up these three folders on sale and spent a few minutes organising them into categories. Now they are easy to find when I need them and my cook book cupboard is all pretty again! :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Time to share my favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!

I have tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes and I keep returning to my old faithful one, which I have been making for over 10 years.

Tui's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

125 grams butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

125 grams chocolate chips

60 grams walnuts (optional)

Method

Cream together the butter, sugars and vanilla until pale in colour. Add lightly beaten egg gradually, beating well after each addition. Mix in sifted flour and salt. Add chocolate chips and walnuts (if you have chosen to add them), mix well. Shape into small balls and place on lightly greased oven trays, allow room for spreading.

Bake at 180c for 10-12 minutes, or until golden.

These are well worth trying, I hope you enjoy them as much as our family does! :)

Scottish Cupcakes

Rosie had a shared picnic lunch at school yesterday and she needed to bring in food that represented something from her culture.

I wasn't sure that food from her Maori culture would be too popular, I didn't think many of her peers would enjoy pork bones and puha! :-)

Taff then suggested that something from their Scottish heritage might be an option. Taff's Nana is a Mackenzie so we looked up the traditional Mackenzie tartan and I made some simple cupcake toppers (made easy with my new Fiskar punch!) to pop into a batch of chocolate cupcakes. You can find the recipe here.

I made these late at night and was rather blurry eyed when icing them, but Rosie was happy with them and they were all gobbled up by her classmates. :-)

Breadmaker Foccacia Recipe

I absolutely love my breadmaker so I thought I would share one of my favourite recipes. There is nothing like the smell of fresh bread and the breadmaker makes it all so easy. I don't use it very often to cook full loaves, I mainly use it for making dough which I then shape and cook in the oven. The most popular recipe in our house is for foccacia bread. This recipe can be adapted in so many ways and is delicious.

Breadmaker Foccacia Bread

• 2 teaspoons Surebake yeast
• 3 cups high grade flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon milk powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 300mls water

Set the breadmaker to the dough cycle. After the cycle is complete, shape it into a large flat loaf (or two smaller loaves). Create dimples in the top by pressing your finger into the dough every few centimetres. Leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes if possible.

Combine the following ingredients and brush evenly over the surface of the dough:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Bake at 200 degrees celcius for 20-25 minutes. Cut it into pieces, pop it in a basket (I got mine from Storage Box) and enjoy!

Rose and Harry's Favourite Chicken Laksa Recipe

Being a busy working mum, I am always on the search for quick and easy recipes that our whole family can enjoy. Rose and Harry's favourite is Thai Chicken Laksa and it is super quick, inexpensive and easy to prepare. This recipe comes from Sophie Gray's Stunning Food from Small Change and is mild enough for the whole family to enjoy. Luckily, both our kids love spicy foods (within reason!) and are reasonably adventurous in trying ethnic dishes.

Chicken Laksa

• 
  
  1 large single chicken breast
• 
  
  1 tablespoon oil
• 
  
  3 cloves crushed garlic
• 
  
  1 tablespoon crushed or grated ginger
• 
  
  1-2 teaspoons of Thai sweet chilli sauce (I use a little more!)
• 
  
  100g green beans (I use frozen beans or a frozen stir fry vegetable mix)
• 
  
  1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 
  
  1 1/2 cups coconut milk or cream (1 can)
• 
  
  1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 
  
  750ml chicken stock
• 
  
  300g noodles (I never measure these, I like a thick laksa so often use fettucine noodles)
• 
  
  salt and pepper

Method

Slice the chicken into thin strips and cook quickly in a little oil in a wok or saucepan. Remove and set aside. To the pan add garlic, ginger, chilli sauce and beans. Cook for a minute or so. Mix in the coriander, coconut milk and fish sauce, then add the stock and chicken. Bring to a simmer and add the noodles. Simmer for a few minutes until the noodles are cooked. Season and serve in bowls with a spoon and fork.

I cooked this tonight and Rose and Harry had three bowls each! If I have frozen prawns on hand, I throw in a handful or if you prefer a seafood laksa, just substitute the chicken for seafood. It is also a nice lunch dish. Enjoy!

Sticky Stem Ginger Cake

As sad as it is to admit, I was a fan of the TV show, New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker. It was reality TV at it's worst but I found it great for getting new ideas and inspiration for baking.

On the very first show each contestent made their signature dish and I have tried several of the recipes since then. The other day I tried the winning recipe, Emma's Sticky Stem Ginger Cake, which originally came from Taste magazine in September 2006.

It was delicious! I could not track down stem ginger in any stores or supermarkets so I used fresh ginger instead. I served it at a family dinner with the lemon drizzle and whipped cream and despite being certain Dad would hate it, he loved it! Tasted like pa pudding he said.

Here is mine going into the oven. Mmmmm.

Here is the recipe for anyone keen to try it:

Cake Ingredients:

225g Self Raising Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp Ground Ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

115g butter

115g dark muscavado sugar

115g treacle

115g golden syrup

250ml blue milk

85g drained stem ginger in syrup (grated finely)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees, grease and line cake tin. Sift flour, baking soda and spices in food processor. Add butter and pulse to breadcrumbs. Transfer to large mixing bowl. Put sugar, treacle, syrup and milk into saucepan and heat gently, stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn up heat and bring mixture to just below boiling. Add stem ginger to flour mixture and add treacle mix while stirring. Break in egg and beat until combined. Pour into tin and bake for 50-60mins. Check centre with skewer and leave to cool.

Icing Ingredients and Method:

50g icing sugar (sifted)

1 tsp lemon zest

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Mix icing sugar and zest and gradually add juice until you have a smooth and runny icing. Drizzle or pipe into a criss-cross pattern.