I link up at these great Link Parties!

It's Secret Recipe Club time again! Where is 2013 going?! I love doing the Secret Recipe club, but every month when I post, it really gives me a stark reminder that another month has flown by. Jeeeeeez, time needs to slow the heck down!

This month I was assigned Julie's blog "White Lights on Wednesday". I went straight to the "About" page and sat there laughing as I realised I do so many things the same as Julie!

You are so not alone girl! I am obsessed with raw dough and batter as well, it's any wonder I make anything half the time as I sit there eating it. All my documents are completely organised into folders and sub folders - no looking around for a picture for ages on my PC! And bread!? My absolute FAVE - If I am asked to cut bread I have to say to my other half "my slices or yours?" because my slice is about 3 inches thick...


After having a good look through loads of recipes including: Mocha Cupcake Milkshake, Biscuits and Gravy (one of my favourite things in the WHOLE world) and Chicken Cordon Bleu, I finally decided to make Julie's Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta.



This was absolutely delicious! I toned down the spices a bit for me as I'm a complete wuss, but my other half had his with all the spice and we loved it! The chicken was lovely and tender and packed full of flavour and there was just enough cheese in the sauce to really add to the overall flavour. Ohhhhhhhhh I'm craving this again as I'm writing this post!


You may be put off by the long list of ingredients, but trust me most of the ingredients are just put straight into a bowl and mixed into a glorious marinade for the chicken. Then you just place the chicken in a ziploc bag, place it in the fridge for a couple of hours and you're ready to go!


Make this today! Seriously it's amazing and you need it in your life!

Print

Recipe adapted from White Lights on Wednesday 

Serves 2 (easily doubled as original recipe was for 4)

Ingredients for the marinade:

> 1 chicken breast, sliced in half as if you were butter-flying it, but cut it fully
> 1/4 cup olive oil
> 1/4 cup ranch dressing
> 1 and 1/2tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
> 1 tsp paprika
> 1/4tsp cayenne pepper (I used a pinch on mine - I'm a wuss!!)
> Salt and pepper to taste
> 1/2tsp lemon juice
> 1/2tsp white vinegar
> 1/2tbsp white sugar

Ingredients for the pasta:

> 1/2lb pasta (around 200g)
> 2tbsp butter
> 1 garlic clove, minced
> Pinch cayenne pepper
> 1/2tsp paprika
> Salt and pepper to taste
> 1/2 cup single cream
> 1/2 cup milk
> 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
> Parsley to garnish, optional

Method:

> Place the oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper (you can add more later if needed), vinegar, lemon juice and sugar into a small bowl and whisk together until smooth.


> Ensure the seasoning is correct and if not, add a little more salt/pepper,
> Place your chicken breast thins into a large ziploc bag and pour the marinade into the bag. Give it a little squidge around to ensure the chicken is covered and pop it into the fridge for 2 hours.
> Once the chicken has been left to marinade, place a large saucepan of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta to packet instructions.
> Whilst the pasta is cooking, warm up your skillet on a low-med heat. Place the chicken halves in the skillet and cook for around 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through and browned.
> Whilst the chicken is cooking, place the butter into a medium sized saucepan on a medium heat and melt. Add in the minced garlic and spices and whisk until combined.
> Add in the cream and milk and whisk until well combined. Add in the grated cheese and continue to whisk until smooth and thickened, about 5 minutes.
> Drain the cooked pasta and place it back into your large saucepan. Pour over the sauce and toss together until the pasta is coated. Serve immediately in bowls with a chicken half each and some parsley to garnish, if desired.






Enjoy :)



I link up at these great Link Parties!

Oh how I love a Twix. All that chocolate and biscuit and caramel.... droooool.


So what could be better than cheesecake bars stuffed with Twixes?

Exactly, nothing.


Am I the only one who bites the chocolate and caramel off of the biscuit and then eats the biscuit last?

Sometimes I eat a Twix like a normal person, but most of the time I don't. Actually I take all my food apart. Everything on my plate will end up de-constructed.... get it from my Mum. I even take burgers apart and cut them all up with my knife and fork....

Ok enough about my weird eating habits.


These cheesecake bars have a lovely thick oreo biscuit base and then a light and fluffy cheesecake layer with chopped up Twixes in. To top it all off there's chocolate chips sprinkled on the top!

They come together in about 10 minutes and are baked in around half an hour, then you can stuff your face with these bars! I won't judge if you don't wait for them to cool ;)

Print

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Makes one 8 x 8 inch pan

Ingredients for the crust:

> 28 Oreos (2 packets) crushed
> 1/2 stick + 1tbsp (70g) unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients for the cheesecake:

> 16oz cream cheese (I used Philly)
> 1 egg
> 1/4 cup caster sugar
> 2tsp vanilla extract
> 2 cups chopped Twixes (This was 8 sticks for me - 4 full size double bars)
> 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

Method:

> Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350F and grease an 8 x 8 inch pan.
> Place your crushed Oreos and melted butter into a medium sized bowl and stir until all the crumbs are coated.
> Tip the Oreo mix into your greased pan and level with a spatula or your hands.





Enjoy :)


I link up at these great Link Parties!

I'm definitely a berry person. I do like apples, bananas etc, but berries are just the best. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries....

Love them all.


I was watching an old episode of Barefoot Contessa the other week and Ina was making strawberry muffins. She said that this was her base muffin mix and once I saw the finished muffins, I knew I just had to rewind the TV and write the recipe down.

I mean, what did we do before Sky+?!


These are THE best muffins I've ever had, unbelievably moist and tender and full of juicy berries. I just loved the flavour of the muffins and then the burst of fruit, blissful.

My other half has never eaten so many muffins in 3 days as he did with these.


These have definitely become my base muffin mix! I love changing recipes and testing new things, so I can't wait to make more of these with different fillings!

And of course, because they're muffins, you can eat them for breakfast ;)


You really need these in your life. You don't need a mixer, just a wooden spoon or spatula, one bowl, a jug and a bunch of ingredients you probably already have in the cupboards :) The come together easily and you can have warm, fresh muffins in less than 35 minutes.

Print

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Makes 16-18 (I got 18 large muffins)

Ingredients:

> 3 cups plain flour
>1tbsp baking powder
> 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
> 1 and 1/2 cups caster sugar
> 2 cups fresh raspberries
> 1 cup fresh blueberries
> 2 sticks (226g) butter, melted and cooled slightly
> 1 and 1/4 cups milk
> 2 eggs, lightly beaten
> 1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

> Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C/375F and grease 2 muffin tins, you'll only need to grease 6 holes in the second tin.
> Place the flour, baking powder, bicarb, caster sugar and berries into a large bowl.






I link up at these great Link Parties!

After some yummy cookie recipes, I have a savoury recipe to share with you today, I thought we could all do with some more carbs obviously...

Before we get to this bread I'd just like to thank everyone for all of their input and help after I asked about watermarks etc in this post.

The wavy watermark was the clear winner, so that's what I'll be doing from now on. I'll get my other half to re-enable right click tonight!

Now, this bread...

I love bread, if I have a bowl of soup and bread to dip in, I honestly eat 1/4 of a loaf. I just love big, thick slices of bread!


I also love making bread, I just love the process of making the dough and then kneading it, so I was a bit intrigued about this no-knead bread. I wondered how it would live up to my normal loaf.

I won't be making no-knead bread all the time, I still love a normal white loaf, but this is a great if you don't have time to knead a loaf of bread, but still want a fresh, homemade loaf.


It was gorgeously crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, the perfect loaf of bread in my opinion!

It's so easy to make! And your house is still filled with the absolutely divine smell of freshly baked bread... Ahhhhhhhhhhhh so good!!


So now onto the recipe. You basically put all of the ingredients into a large bowl mix them until they come together into a loose dough, cover the bowl up and leave it overnight! Simple! You'll need a large cast iron pot with a lid. I used a 5 litre cast iron enamelled casserole pot.

Print

Recipe from The Comfort of Cooking

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

> 3 cups plain flour
> 1tsp salt (original recipe called for 2-3tsp, we aren't too keen on salt though)
> 1/2tsp yeast
> 1 and 1/2 cups warm water

Method:

> Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon, until a loose, scraggly dough forms.
> Cover the bowl with cling film and leave at room temperature for 8-24 hours. (I left mine for 24 hours). The dough will be all bubbly.


> Preheat the oven to 230 degrees C/450F. Once the oven is up to temperature, place the cast iron pot into the oven for 30 minutes.
> Shape the dough into a round loaf with floured hands. After the pot has been heated for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and place on a heatproof surface. Place the shaped loaf into the pot and place the lid on it. (If your cast iron pot isn't enamelled, place a piece of greaseproof paper in bottom of the pot)
> Place into the oven for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for a further 7-15 minutes until golden brown and slightly crackled on top. Keep an eye on it, my loaf only needed 9 minutes without the lid, it will depend on your oven.
> Once the loaf is baked, (it will sound hollow when you knock on it) remove from the oven and remove from the pot. Place the loaf on a wire rack to cool completely.
> Loaf will keep, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for 3 days.



Enjoy :)


I link up at these great Link Parties!