Silent Sunday

Creamy Chicken and Tarragon Puff Pastry Pie - 52 Cook Books

When I was looking through my cook books I came across the Winter Recipe Collection that my hubby bought for me quite a while ago.

 

As with a lot of my books, I look through them, find recipes that I want to try then the books get put on the shelf and I forget what I wanted to do!

 

When I was looking through the Winter Recipe Collection I came across a recipe for Creamy Chicken and Tarragon Pie.

 

I love the combination of chicken and tarragon so I knew that I would love this pie.

For more information on this book click the link below!

Sainsbury's Winter Collection

 

However, as always, I made a few changes.

 

Starting with the pastry.

 

The recipe uses a shortcrust pastry, which I could have made but I have been looking for a dish to make where I can try making puff pastry. This is a pastry that I have never made before as it is a time consuming pastry to make. But it is something that I have wanted to try so this dish gave me the perfect opportunity!

 

I looked in the best place that I could think of for how to make puff pastry, Paul Hollywood's Pie and Puds. It has an easy, but time consuming, step by step guide on how to make and prepare the pastry. For more information on this great book follow the link below!

Paul Hollywood's Pies and Puds

 

This is what I got...

 

 

Creamy Chicken and Tarragon Puff Pastry Pie

 

Ingredients

 

400g chicken breast, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

1 large courgette, sliced and quartered

1 large leek, sliced

2 stems of kale, shredded

2 tsp dried tarragon

500 mls chicken stock

2 tbsp plain flour

150ml half fat creme fraiche

Puff Pastry

 

Method

 

1 - Heat the olive oil and brown off the chicken. Once browned remove from the pan.

 

2 - Add the onions, leeks and courgettes to the pan and fry until cooked through then add the chicken back to the pan.

 

3 - Add the flour then gradually add the stock.

 

4 - Add the shredded kale and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

 

5 - Preheat the oven to 200C

 

6 - Once the filling is cooked through remove from the heat and stir in the creme fraiche.

 

7 - Pour the pie filling into a pie dish and put to one side while the pastry is prepared. You may have some excess sauce, if you do keep it to one side as it makes a great sauce to pour over potatoes.

 

8 - Roll the pastry to the desired size and lay over the pie and trim off any excess pastry, pinch around the edges to seal, brush with egg wash and make a hole in the centre to let any hot air escape.

 

9 - Bake in the preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown.

 

I served this delicious pie with new potatoes and poured over some of the sauce that I had left over.

This pie has a great depth of flavour, it is a really rich, creamy sauce that goes perfectly with the kitchen.

Whether you follow my recipe or the original recipe I am sure that it will go down well with all of the family. Joseph quickly asked for seconds!

Enjoy

 



 

52 Cook Books is hosted by the lovely Mary at Keynko. Check out the fantastic way to make homemade gnocchi!

Keynko 52 Cook Books Week 3

 

 

Wholegrain Goodness Challenge

I am pleased to tell you that I am an "Official Tester" for the Mumsnet Wholegrain Goodness Challenge!

Starting next week I will be including wholegrain in at least one of our meals a day for two weeks!

I will be changing white flours for wholemeal flours, adding oats, changing cereals, swapping our regular rice and pasta for brown rice and brown pasta, adding barley and will definitely be doing some wholegrain bakes!

This challenge is in association with WholegrainGoodness.com who are a non profit campaign that are aiming to spread awareness of the importance of including wholegrain in our diets. Nutritionists encourage eating at least three servings of wholegrain a day. I was not actually aware of this, yes I knew that it was good for you and that you should be incorporating it into your diet but I didn't know that they recommend that you actually eat three servings a day!
Thankfully I am not alone in now knowing this!
A recent survey showed that 95% of adults do not know this and almost a third do not eat any at all!

Between now and Sunday I am going to be looking for different ideas and thinking of some new recipes.

During the next two weeks I will be sharing our challenge on Mumsnet and also on here.

I am excited and curious to see how our two weeks will go and if we will find it easy to carry on once the challenge has finished!

You can follow the Mumsnet challenge on

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_product_tests/1967766-Take-the-WholegrainGoodness-com-challenge-testers-can-win-250-NON-TESTERS-chance-to-win-150

Priddy Books Alphaprints ABC - Review

We are big book fans in our house.

So we immediately knew that we would enjoy reviewing Priddy Books Alphaprints ABC.

 

As soon as the twins saw this beautiful, bright book they fell in love with it!

It was an instant hit with the twins.

They love looking through the book and looking at the animals as it goes through the alphabet.

 

Alphaprints ABC is a good sized book for children to sit and look at both on the floor on their own or together with an adult.

I have found that the twins often want to look at the same book. Small sized books often end with them arguing over it. However with this book they are both able to sit and look together. They enjoy pointing and looking at the animals and telling each other what they think in their own little way!

 

The book has had a lot of use from the twins, it has been knocked about and even chewed and it still looks like new!

It has thick, good quality board pages which have a smooth finish which can be wiped clean after any spillages. As the pages are board there are no chances of them being ripped, folded or damaged. Anyone who has toddlers will know that they are not as gentle with books as they should be so this book is perfect to withstand anything!

The pages have a pure white background which is ideal for toddlers as the writing and pictures are brightly coloured really do stand out. There is not too much going on which makes it easier for them to concentrate on the picture of the animal that goes with the letter.

Each letter of the alphabet is paired with an animal.

 

The pictures of the animals are fantastic and so imaginative.

The animals are mainly made up with thumb and finger prints which give the children a sensory experience of tough. The finger prints are slightly raised and the twins always run their fingers along the pictures and enjoy feeling the different textures.

Along with the fingerprints are various household, outdoor and food items that are included for the children to find.

At the moment the twins are recognising the items of food but as they grow older and their knowledge increases they will be able to look for the other household and outdoor items such as buttons and leaves.

Their favourites ones to find are the bananas on the walrus and toucan, the carrots on the rhino and the eggs of the newt.

 

 

As we read the book I have noticed that the twins are attempting to say a lot more of the animal names. Some of them are tricky for them but they are having a go.

This book is a great way for children to learn the names of different animal and to help them associate the animal with the letter.

When I read to the twins I sound the letters phonetically and I have found that they are also trying to make the sounds.

Thanks to the lovely bright colours this is also a great book for children to learn colours.

This really is a beautiful book which has become a firm favourite to look at and read. The twins never tire of looking at the brightly coloured animals and listening to the alphabet animal rhyme!

This book gets an amazing 5 stars from us and we can see why it is one of Amazon.com's best children's books of 2013!

I sincerely hope that they do more alphaprints books they are a genius yet simple idea that captivates children, we love it!

For more information visit:

http://shop.priddybooks.com/book.aspx?id=4294967624

Disclaimer: We were sent the Alphaprints book to review. This post has in no way been influenced by Priddy Book and all of the opinions and views are 100% honest!

Wednesday Words

This week the quote that I have chosen is about aspirations!
I have dreams, which I hope to achieve one day.
This week I got a step closer to one of my dreams.
But there are a few more steps to go until I can even think about them becoming a reality!
However, I can still hope, and keep thinking that I will get there, one day!
So this week, this quote seems fitting for me to rememer!

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.

I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty,

believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”

Louisa May 

Wednesday Words is hosted by the lovely Emma at Crazy with Twins who has shared a fitting quote about making a difference. Check it out and other quotes...

http://www.crazywithtwins.com/2014/01/15/crazy-enough-change-world-wednesdaywords/

Chocolate Orange Battenberg Cake

This week I wanted to make a different style of cake.

My hubby loves Battenberg cake so I decided to make him one, however me, being, me had to add a twist!

The traditional Battenberg, in my opinion, is ok but needs a little more flavour.

So I got my baking thinking cap on and decided to mix two of my favourite flavours together.

Chocolate and orange!

This is what I got...

 

Chocolate Orange Battenberg Cake

 

Ingredients

 

175g baking spread

175g caster sugar

175g self raising flour

3 eggs at room temperature

Zest of half an orange

2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

75g chocolate, I used Galaxy because I love the creaminess that the chocolate has but you can add your own favourite

1 dspn cocoa powder

3 tbsp orange marmalade

500g white marzipan

 

Method

 

Pre heat the oven to 170C (fan)

 

1 - Mix the spread until it is creamy

 

2 - Add the caster sugar and mix until light and fluffy

 

3 - Gradually add the eggs along with a little flour to prevent curdling

 

4 - Sift in the flour and mix until evenly combined

 

5 - Once your cake mixture is made weigh the mixture so that you are able to divide equally

 

6 - Divide the mixture equally into two separate bowls

 

7 - Heat a pan of water and bring to the boil

 

8 - Break up the chocolate and place in a glass bowl and place over the boiling water until melted

 

9 - Add the melted chocolate to one of the bowls of cake mixture and stir in

 

10 - Add the cocoa, this is mainly to add more of a chocolate colour to the sponge

 

11 - In the other bowl add the orange zest and juice and mix together

 

12 - Take either a square or rectangular cake tin and prepare it so that you are able to bake both halves together

 

13 - Measure a double layer of tin foil that is big enough to line the tin plus an additional 10cms

 

14 - In the centre of the foil fold in half, this will create the dividing section, fold the foil back to create a 10 cms high foil wall

 

15 - Line the tin with the foil making sure the foil wall is in the centre of the tin, continue to line each half of the tin with baking paper

 

16 - Add the two cake mixtures to the tin and place in the pre heated oven and bake or 30 minutes

 

 

17 - Once the cake is ready remove from the tin and leave to cool completely

 

18 - Once cooled trim the edges and cut each cake in half using a ruler to make sure you have four equal pieces

 

19 - Melt the marmalade over a low heat

 

20 - Generously dust the worktop with icing sugar to prevent sticking and roll out a piece of marzipan which is slightly bigger than the width of the cake once put together, this will be the base

 

21 - Brush the base with some of the melted marmalade and place a chocolate piece of cake on one half

 

22 - Brush some melted marmalade on the middle side of the cake and place a piece of the orange cake by its side, the marmalade will help to keep the pieces together

 

23 - Brush the top of the two cake pieces with more melted marmalade and place the other two pieces of cake on top to create the chess board design

 

24 - Roll out the rest of the marzipan, brush the cake with the remaining melted marmalade and cover the cake with the marzipan

 

25 - Trim the edges and cut off the two ends so that you have a neat finish to the cake

 

I love how moist the orange cake is and it goes perfectly with the chocolate cake.

This cake is easier to make than it may sound and the results are fantastic!

Enjoy x

 

 

I have shared this recipe on Honest Mum's Tasty Tuesday's check out the other delicious recipes and Papa G's Pork with Wine and Coriander dish.

I have also shared this recipe on A Mummy Too's Recipe of the Week, check out her Recipe of the Week post for lots of delicious ideas!

http://www.amummytoo.co.uk/2014/01/creamy-starter-main-and-dessert-recipeoftheweek-11-17-jan/