Crunchy goodness all round!

We had a bit of a feast tonight. Unfortunately there isn't much to post about, because the chicken came pre-split and marinated from Coles, and we had crunchy smashed spuds and this salad on the side. The potatoes I just boiled in their skins, in a pot of water with some Maggi seasoning added. When they were cooked, I drained them, and smooshed them lightly with a fork. Then I placed them in an oven tray that I'd sprayed with oil spray, sprayed the potatoes, and lightly salted them, before adding a quick grind of fresh pepper.

Using spray oil is the key for smashed potatoes, because if you use pouring oil, and try to toss them, they fall to bits.

Then just roast them in the same oven as the chicken, 50 minutes @ 180C.

It really is a shame I don't have the recipe for this chicken, because it was so moist and flavourful. Also so cheap, as it was on sale this week for $7! Sooo good... If you get a chance to try the Whole Split Lime & Coriander Chicken sold at Coles, I urge you to give it a go!

Dinner Fail

Sure it looks pretty tasty above, but let me tell you: if you don't have a fan forced oven, don't bother trying to cook a kangaroo roast. Or even a mini roast or two.

Kangaroo is a pretty touchy meat to cook, it's needs to be slightly on the rarer side or it goes tough, but too rare and it's not nice at all. Normally I stick to sausages, which cook like any other sausage, but I saw these mini roasts at 1/5th the usual price and couldn't resist. But my evil oven didn't cook hot enough, or something, and by the time I started carving it was, of course, too late. These weren't just rare in the middle, they were practically hopping out of the pan.

Good thing I cooked so many roast potatoes! And DP didn't mind that there was no meat, because I bribed him with dessert.

Honeycomb Mousse!

It's from a packet, but he didn't know that. Shhh!


Don't forget to think (and cook!) pink for the Virtual Night In, raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research. Time is almost up!

Chicken & Camembert Turnovers with Roast Potato Salad

Sounds fancy huh? Tasted pretty fancy too. But it's dead easy. Perfect to impress those fussy friends or in-laws!

All you do is fry up some chicken strips, and some sliced mushrooms. Fry them very lightly, you don't want to overcook the chicken. Grab a sheet or two of frozen puff pastry out of the freezer first, so that it has slightly defrosted while the chicken cooks. You want it pliable, but not too soggy.

Slice a wheel of camembert into small wedges. Slice the pastry into two large triangles, cutting the square in half diagonally. Place 3 or 4 pieces of cheese on each half, then top with the chicken and mushrooms. You might need to drain the cooked mixture first.

Taking one corner of the pastry, fold down into a smaller triangle, sealing all the yummy stuff inside. Press together the two open edges, making sure the pastry seals. Cook for about 20 minutes at 180C, or until golden.

I served these with a salad made with lettuce, basil leaves, mayonnaise, fetta cheese, and some chat potatoes which I cut in half, and then boiled until almost cooked. Then I tossed them in some olive oil, added a little sea salt, and roasted them on the bottom rack of the oven under the turnovers. Add to the lettuce just before serving, so the basil is starting to wilt and release its beautiful fragrance just as you hand out the plates. The crumbled fetta goes so nicely with the warm potatoes too.

Don't forget to think (and cook!) pink for the Virtual Night In, raising money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.

Chicken & Roast Potato Salad

Chicken & Roast Potato Salad
500g chicken tenderloins
190g Capsicum & eggplant pasta sauce
120g baby spinach & rocket mix
1 head broccoli
10 - 15 baby potatoes (I used one of those microwave packs, that come with butter and parsley, but we could have used a lot more potato)

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Drown the chicken in the pasta sauce, and leave in the fridge for an hour. Microwave the potatoes until almost cooked. If using the prepacked baby spuds with butter and herbs, just follow the pack directions. Once removed from the microwave, coat the potatoes in a little butter and herbs, a dash of soy (if you like that sort of thing), and cut in halves. Place in the oven to roast. About 30 minutes should do it.
Trim the broccoli into florets and steam in the microwave.
After the chicken has been marinating for an hour, place a frypan on high heat. Give it a light but generous spray of oil. Fry the chicken until cooked through, turning at least once. Break the chicken into little bite sized pieces. Thisa will also let you see if it's cooked all the way through.
Toss everything into a large salad bowl, including your leaves. Season with a touch of salt and freshly ground pepper if you desire.

Slow Cooker Pork Casserole with Soy Roasted Potatoes

I knew posting all those recipes yesterday was a good idea. Those Roasted Baby Potatoes with Soy, Butter and Parsley sunk deep, deep into my brain. So when I went shopping last night, I thought ooh, I see discounted sliced mushrooms, and baby spinach, and baby potatoes... I know what I can do with all that. And I did know. I did all this.

Don't you love having a black slow cooker that is impossible to photograph well?

Slow Cooker Pork Casserole
500g pork, diced
1 onion, chunky diced
3 carrots, sliced
1 stick celery, diced
375g mushrooms, sliced
100g baby spinach
175g pk Masterfoods Farmhouse Chicken Casserole base

Throw everything into your slow cooker except for the spinach. Stir thoroughly to coat in the sauce. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours. In the last 20 minutes of cooking, remove the lid. Stir everything around, then evenly pile on the spinach leaves. Leave the top off until cooking is finished, then serve.

Roast Potatoes... *drool*

These weren't exactly as seen on For the love of cooking, as I had no parsley, so I used just a smidgin of tarragon. I don't recommend the tarragon, and I think I might use just a bit less oil and/or butter next time. They were a little oily for me, but that may have just been because I was out of olive oil, and had to use canola. They were still very tasty though.