Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn

 

One of the beauties of being involved in a book club is that some times you find yourself reading books that would otherwise not have crossed your reading radar. Some times, they don't work for you (Land of Milk and Honey, I am looking at you!) but some times they do. Call of the Camino is not a book that I recall hearing about before it being chosen for the current selection of Cook the Books. The question is did it work for me or not? Read on to find out!

When journalist Reina Watkins' nemesis at work is unable to make the start of a walk along the Camino that he was supposed to be doing for an article, she jumps at the opportunity. Not only is it a chance to get one up on Matt, but walking the Camino is something that she has always been interested in because her parents met on the trail years before. They both died when she was young, so armed with her father's journal, she is hopeful that it will help her understand her parent's story, and her own history. 

Because it is very last minute, she hasn't done any training and she only has her trusty Doc Martin's the first few days are very trying for Reina, but as the trek continues she begins to understand the call of the Camino - why so many people have been taking this pilgrimage for so many years. When she hears that Matt, her rival, is hot on her trail, she is determined that this time she will be the one who writes the better article, especially given her personal connection.

Interspersed with Reina's story, we hear her mother's story. Reina always thought her mother was Portuguese but it turns out that she was from Andorra. Caught up in the middle of a historical family feud, Isabelle chooses to join the Camino to escape from danger. Ill-prepared, she hopes that the mantra of the Camino, the Camino will provide, is true for her. 

The third voice in the story comes in the form of Reina's father's journal, and it is through this, and then a coincidental meeting that Reina learns more about Isabelle.

As readers, we are witness to the trials and tribulations of both women, from injuries to soreness, fatigue and danger. On the plus side there are the characters that they meet along the way, other pilgrims who are sharing in this significant journey, and it is this camaraderie that affected me the most.

I do know several people who have done the Camino. One of my friend's dads has done it three times, and her brother went with him one time and ended up meeting his now partner who lived in a different country. I definitely know that it changes lives, and we saw that with both of our main characters. Can I see myself doing the Camino? Not really. I do more steps when I am on holiday that I do the rest of the time but still, this kind of strenuous walking sounds too far, too far for me! I did, however, enjoy reading about it! And I would be more than happy to go to Spain at some point!

When this book was chosen, I immediately thought that I would be choosing some Spanish recipe. I did hope that something more would have jumped out of the text to help me decide. I thought about tortilla, but to be honest, I thought someone else would have chosen that to make.

Instead, it gave me the opportunity to pull one of my favourite cook books off the shelf. I say favourite, but it's a favourite book to look at. Even though I have owned it for years, and I posted about it for Weekend Cooking back in 2012, I don't believe I ever did get around to cooking from it! That changed this week.

The thing I loved about this book is that it gives you food history, regional specialties, spotlights ingredients and producers. It is an amazing book to look at and I love the dust jacket I have on my copy. The colours just pop! One thing I did find a little interesting was what wasn't in this book. It was originally published back in 2012, before the world went crazy for Basque cheesecake, alternatively known as San Sebastien cheesecake, and there is no recipe in the book for it! Just thought that was interesting!

I was hoping to choose a recipe that had been mentioned in Call of the Camino, or that at least came from the regions that the Camino passes through. In the end I chose this recipe for two reasons. One, there was a mention of roast chicken towards the end of the book, and I liked the fruitiness of this recipe, given that it echoed the part in the book where our characters stumbled across La Casa de los Dioses (The House of the Gods) where the walkers can help themselves to fruit. In the book it mainly talks about the watermelon, but I really, really don't like watermelon so I am going with apples and grapes.

In the intro to this recipe it mentions that in Asturias Reineta apples are used but the Golden Delicious variety is a good substitute. Asturias is one of the places that the Camino passes through so this recipe works as a regional dish. We ended up using a different variety of apples as there were no Golden Delicious at the supermarket.

It was an interesting recipe. I am not sure we would make it again. You can see the grape juice has kind of caught a bit, but the chicken itself was very moist, and it was interesting to have the apples and grapes with chicken. We would normally pair cooked apples with pork. We served it with roast potatoes as I wasn't really sure what else to serve it with.

The next selection for Cook the Book is called Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. Not sure what to expect with this one. I guess I will find out when I read it!

I am sharing this post with Foodies Read, hosted at Based on a True Story.

Roast Chicken with Apples and Grapes (Pollo con manzanas y uvas) - Claudia Roden

Serves 4-6

5 Golden Delicious apples
Juice of ½ a lemon
1kg white seedless grapes, destalked
1 x 1.5kg chicken
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
75g butter


Peel and core the apples. Cut one in half or into quarters, so the pieces will push easily inside the chicken, and the rest of the apples into 8 slices each. Drop the slices into a bowl of water acidulated with the lemon juice to prevent them from discolouring.

Blend half of the grapes in the food processor and collect the juice by pressing the mush through a small-holed sieve with a wooden spoon. Discard the skins left in the sieve. You should get about 250ml of juice. Stuff the chicken with the halved or quartered apple and put it in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and rub with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Turn the bird breast side down in the baking dish and pour in 125ml of the grape juice. Roast in an oven preheated to 190°C/gas 5 for 45 minutes, then take the chicken out, turn it over, pour the remaining grape juice over it and return to the oven. Cook for another 30 minutes or until the chicken is brown and caramelized and the juices run clear when you cut into the bird between the leg and the body with a pointed knife.

While the chicken is roasting, heat the butter with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan. Put in the drained apple slices and the remaining grapes and sauté over a medium heat, turning over the fruits and shaking the pan gently until the grapes are soft and golden and the apples tender and caramelized. It can take 20 minutes. Transfer to a baking dish with their juices and reheat in the oven when you are ready to serve.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Roast Chicken with Apple and Grapes (new)
Monday - Baked Gnocchi (new)
Tuesday - Enchilada
Wednesday - Molten Pumpkin Pasta Bake (new)
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by Donna Hay

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was going to try to start cooking along more regularly with the Lamb's Ear Cookbook club. The February cookbook is Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by celebrated Australian cook Donna Hay.

As you might note from the photo above, I actually own quite a few cookbooks by Donna Hay, and yet I don't often cook out of them. Part of the reason is that everything looks so beautiful that I am intimidated by it. And because it always looks so good, I assume it must be complicated. When I cook I do tastes good, I don't often do looks beautiful! I am therefore often guilty of using her books as though they are coffee table books. I mainly just look at the pictures. 

I am not only talking about the food. Even the book is beautiful, with great pictures, a nice layout, and a ribbon! I love it when a cookbook has a ribbon. It instantly makes it a better book!

The book starts with a chapter on styling where she gives tips on how to make your lunch or dinner settings look amazing by saying things like "consider those vintage copper pots, ceramic saucepans and teapots in your cupboards the unsung heroes of your table." I don't really have any of those in my cupboard**, but I get her point. The styling tips continue throughout the book, especially in the menu sections 

The book is then divided into a pretty normal structure with chapters called

Sunrise: Win the morning, win the day (yes, I suspect Donna Hay is a morning person! lol)

Light lunching

Summer nights, simple dinners

Sunny sides that double as snacks

Sweet and sunny treats

Anything-but-basic basics

From there the structure of the book changes into a section called Coastal Celebrations where we get four suggested menus for entertaining from starters to mains and desserts, including the aforementioned styling suggestions. The four menus are called

Sailing into lunch

Summer in bloom

There's no party like a taco party

Coastal 

I have already cooked quite a few things from this book, but there is more I would like to make including the recipes below.

Tomato and mascarpone tart - This was so delicious and would be super easy if you bought premade shortcrust pastry

Crushed potato galette - We served this when we had family for dinner, and it was a hit. Soft on the inside, crunchy outside. Will definitely do again. 

Crispy lemon and garlic roast chicken - A bit unusual with the use of miso paste but definitely tasty and we plan to make this one again.

Thai chicken in lime and coconut - It's always good to have another tasty meatball recipe. I am thinking about having a whole week of different meatballs but I am not sure the rest of my house would agree

Korean fried chicken burgers - Making this tonight!

Sticky soy and miso chicken

Passionfruit powder puffs

Lemon and elderflower bundt cake

Passionfruit meringue tart

Crispy meringues with poached vanilla pears

Originally, I borrowed this book from the library, but we have already cooked quite a lot out of the book, and some of the recipes could end up in our regular recipe rotation, so I did end up buying it!

When I was thinking about recipes to share, I originally had something else in mind, but when I said we had made this recipe in my Weekly Meals section last week, Jackie mentioned that she was curious about this recipe so I decided to share this one instead. 

Thai chicken in lime and coconut (Donna Hay)

750g chicken mince
6 Thai lime leaves (also known as kaffir lime leaves)
2 tbspn finely grated ginger
2 tbspn finely grated lemongrass
2 tbspn finely chopped coriander leaves (also known as cilantro)
1/2 cup (30g) panko breadcrumbs

Lime and coconut sauce

1 tbspn grapeseed or vegetable oil
1/3 cup  (100g) store-bought Thai red curry past
400ml coconut milk
1/2 cup (125ml) good quality chicken stock
1 tbspn fish sauce
1 1/2 tbspn lime juice
1 tbspn caster (superfine) sugar
2 Thai lime leaves, finely shredded, extra

To serve

Extra coriander (cilantro) sprigs, shiso leaves (optional) and lime wedges

Place the chicken, lime leaves, ginger, lemongrass, coriander and panko in a large bowl and mix to combine. Roll the mixture into 16 balls and place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

To make the lime and coconut sauce, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and curry paste and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add the coconut milk, stock, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and extra lime leaves and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and reduced. 

Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes, turning halfway, or until cooked through.

Serve with the extra coriander, shiso leaves (if using) and a squeeze of lime. 

**I have asked my husband to rejig the storage in one of the spare bedrooms so that I can reorganise to see if I have any of things I could use for smart styling. The challenge then will be to fill it up, right?

Weekly meals

Saturday - Scrambled eggs on toast
Sunday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Monday - Pork Schnitzel, mash, mushroom sauce and broccoli
Tuesday - Nasi Goreng
Wednesday - Chicken green curry pie
Thursday - Chicken, mushroom and broccoli pasta bake
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Japanese Chicken Curry

I am currently doing a casual January in Japan on my blog, so I thought I should at least try to cook something Japanese for Weekend Cooking. We have been talking about trying to do Japanese chicken curry for a while so this seemed like the perfect chance.

The idea of what to cook was actually inspired by a new cafe near work. When I go there for lunch, they generally have a few different options, but they always include chicken katsu, Japanese chicken curry, and chicken parma (which is chicken schnitzel with a tomato sauce, ham and melted cheese on top) as a minimum. The interesting thing...they all use the same chicken with breadcrumbs as the base.  

So what's the difference between chicken katsu and chicken schnitzel. There are two main things. First, is the type of breadcumbs  - katsu has panko breadcrumbs whereas a schnitzel tends to have normal breadcrumbs. The second is that katsu also tends to be deep fried whereas schnitzel is shallow fried.

We ended up using a variety of recipes, from the instruction on the back of the Japanese curry cubes to this video at Recipetin Eats Japan to show us how to butterfly the chicken thighs. This is when you slice the thicker ends of the thigh and fold them out so there is a more even thickness before dipping them in flour, eggs and panko breadcrumbs and frying them.

I do have a recipe in one of my cookbooks to make your own curry cubes, and we might still do that at some point, but for this recipe we just went with the store bought variety.

This is not a precise recipe, as you can adapt it to your own tastes and, as I mentioned before, it is a bit of a mix of various different ideas.

What I will say is that this was delicious. The katsu was really crunchy. We will definitely be putting this into our regular rotation, although if my husband has his way we will just use store bought schnitzels for convenience reasons.

Japanese Chicken Curry

Chicken thighs, butterflied

Eggs, whisked

Flour

Panko breadcrumbs

3 Potatoes

2 Carrots

2 Onions

Japanese curry cubes (for example Golden Curry or Vermont brands)

Rice for serving

For the curry sauce, cook the onions until they are tender but not browned. Add the cubed carrots and potatoes along with sufficient water. When the potatoes are cooked add the curry cubes and cook according to the instructions.

Cook the rice

While the curry is cooking, take the thighs and dip them in the flour so that they are well covered, then dredge through the egg mix, followed by the panko breadcrumbs.

Deep fry for 3 minutes on each side, until the katsu are golden brown and cooked through. 

Slice across the narrowest part of the chicken and place on top of the rice and then add the curry sauce.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Japanese Chicken Curry
Monday - Chicken kebabs, baked potatoes, coleslaw
Tuesday - Pork chops, chips and gravy
Wednesday - Spaghetti Bolognaise
Thursday - 
Friday - Away for the weekend

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: Maame by Jessica George

The current selection for Cook the Books is Maame by Jessica George. I don't recall hearing too much about this book before it was announced and in all probability wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been selected for the group.

Maddie is a young woman in her early 20s living in London. She works in a low paid job she doesn't love, she is responsible for looking after her father who is living with Parkinson's disease while her mother spends a lot of time in Ghana and her brother lives his own life, never having much time or care for his family. Maddie, who is also known as Maame which means Woman, is left to arrange her father's medical affairs, is responsible for all the bills, and is often asked to send her mother money as well.

As a result, Maddie's social life is pretty much limited to work and home, with occasional visits to church. She does have two very good friends, but other than that, she is something of an enforced loner. Despite her responsibilities, her mother is constantly asking her why she hasn't met someone, preferably a nice African man. 

When her mother announces she is coming back to London for a year, Maddie is told that she must move out, so she finds a house to share. The only problem is that just as she is moving out, she loses her job and so she needs to find another one and quickly. She finds herself working at a small publishing company.

Soon, Maddie is finally getting the opportunity to do the things that everyone else did in their late teens. She buys new clothes, she goes out drinking, meets a couple of men. Life seems like it is on the up, until it all goes wrong. 

On the day before his birthday, Maddie is making her father a birthday cake when her housemates talk her into going out, promising that they will help her decorate the cake the next day. It turns into a big night. When Maddie wakes up very late, it is to the news that her father has passed away. Maddie is devastated. She feels incredibly guilty that she wasn't there, and it soon becomes clear that in addition her mother expects Maddie to make all the funeral arrangements and pay for everything, but everything still needs to be done her way!

This is a book that tackles big topics. Whilst Maddie is British, her family expects her to still be Ghanain so it is looking at the idea of identity. It also tackles race issues, grief, and almost is a coming of age novel, albeit with our main character being in her mid twenties. There are times when it is difficult to read but in the end it was ultimately hopeful, and I enjoyed it very much. I have added the author's next book to my list to read next year. It's out in February and is called Love by the Book.

If I had of just been reading this book I am not sure I would have noticed the food references but because we were reading this for Cook the Books I was looking for them and there were lots of references to food. Some was western food but as soon as I saw the words jollof rice, I knew exactly what we were going to cook. However, first I had to check with Robert to make sure he would be happy to eat it. He spent two years living and working in Lagos in Nigeria and travelling all throughout sub-Saharan Africa and there are definitely some things that he would rather not eat again. 

So what is jollof rice and why did I want to make it? Jollof rice is a dish that is prepared in many West African countries, consisting of a spicy tomato based sauce. According to Wikipedia, it originates in Senegal, but there are various theories as to how it spread across the region and there are many variations. 

It does seem like jollof rice is a bit like several food items in that different countries claim ownershp and superiority. This is similar to Australians and New Zealanders both claiming ownership to foods like pavlova, lamingtons and Anzac biscuits. In the 2010s there was some lighthearted social media debates known as the jollof wars, mainly between Nigeria and Ghana, and these days there is even a jollof festival.

I probably should have found a Ghanian version but my son's father is half-Nigerian, and he grew up there, so I thought this was an opportunity to revisit the Nigerian version. When we were together, I was responsible for most of the cooking, although on occasion he would cook himself food. It ranged from the very hot and spicy pepper soup (which Robert was absolutely not interested in making), to goat stew, but the one that I liked the most was jollof rice. We often had it with boiled eggs but you can have it with chicken or other meats as well.

I have posted about Jollof rice before for Weekend Cooking, and shared a very enthusiastic video which you can find here but I haven't actually eaten a home made version of it since I split from the ex, which was in 2002.

When I was looking for a recipe I came across this one at Zena's Kitchen, where she explains the reasons why she does the various steps in the recipe that might seem a little unusual to us. We love a one pot rice dish so this is the one that we choose to make, although we adapted it a little bit to use thigh fillets and a few other small changes. The last line of the recipe made me laugh. I can assure you that there was never any salad served when I used to eat this dish. On occasion it used to get made with boiled eggs which was quite nice. We did have fried plantain but I don't recall it being served with this dish. Plantain wasn't my favourite. 

We had leftovers of this. I have to say the flavours developed very nicely the next day.

I didn't think I was going to be able to participate in the next selection for Cook the Books which is Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil but I have managed to get a copy so I will be looking forward to reading it and choosing something to cook.

I am sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story.

Rating 4.5/5

Jollof Chicken and Rice

For the chicken:

1kg skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

For the stew base:

1 large red bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 medium vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 red scotch bonnet chillies, quartered (use less for milder heat)
25g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
100ml water
1 tsp fine sea salt

For the rice:

150ml vegetable oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
150g double concentrated tomato purée
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp dried thyme
3 chicken stock pot
2 dried bay leaves
500ml water
600g parboiled long-grain rice 


Heat your oven to 180°C / fan 160°C.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the chicken skin-side down until browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes, or until browned on the other side. Transfer to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. 

Add the double concentrated tomato purée and cook, stirring frequently, until it darkens, 3 to 5 minutes.
Pour in the blended base, stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced by about a third and the oil begins to separate, 12 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the curry powder, dried thyme, stock pot, bay leaves and water. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then cover and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear, then drain well

Add the rice to the sauce, stir in any resting chicken juices, then arrange the browned chicken thighs over the top. As soon as everything comes to a simmer, cover, transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven and leave covered for 10 minutes to finish steaming the rice.

Optional but worth it: Heat your grill to high. Transfer the chicken to a baking tray, brushing off any rice. Brush lightly with oil and grill for 5 to 10 minutes, or until browned and crisping at the edges.
To serve, spoon the rice onto a large platter and top with the chicken. Fried plantain and salad on the side make it a proper feast.

The next selection for Cook the Books is Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. I am not sure if I am going to be able to join in or not. This book isn't available in our state's library system and it is about $35 to buy on Kindle which is very, very expensive. I will hopefully join in for the selection after that!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Jollof Chicken and Rice
Monday - Swedish Meatballs and mash potato
Tuesday - Scrambled Eggs on toast
Wednesday - Beef and Broccoli noodles
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Honey Pepper Chicken

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking/Blog Tour: The Girl from Normandy by Rachel Sweasey

 

Esther has loved everything French since she started learning the language during her teenage years in school. She lives in Dorset and often gets to travel to Normandy for work. It is her favourite place in France. She loves the food, the countryside, the culture, and she loves the Joubert family. 

Giselle Joubert was her high school pen friend, and when Esther's school did an exchange program, Esther stayed at the Joubert's rustic farm near the small town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. There she met and had a schoolgirl love affair with Jules, Giselle's older brother. They stayed in contact for a while, but then the letters stopped coming. Even though Esther has visited the Jouberts many times since, she has rarely crossed paths with Jules and they barely made eye contact. Now Esther is going to be godmother to Giselle's second child, and Jules is going to be godfather, even if only by proxy if he can't be there in person.

On one of her previous visits, Esther had found a recipe book and between it's pages there was a sheet of paper which had a recipe for preserving wild garlic on one side and on the other a poem written in both French and English. Captivated, Esther kept the piece of paper but now she wonders if that was a mistake and so she is determined to ask elderly Grand-mere Joubert about the book and the poem.

The opening of the book focuses on a young woman living in Paris in late 1940. Marie-Claire is married to Benjamin, a Jew, and mother of a young child named Antoine. With the coming of the Nazis, the little family knows that they have to escape and so plans are made to catch the train to the south of France where she has family. However, things go terribly wrong, and Marie-Claire ends up travelling north to Caen, separated from her baby. There, she meets a man who, seeing her distress, takes her to a chateau where a small group are gathering to form a resistance group. With her hatred of the force that destroyed her family, Marie-Claire joins the group. 

Given her cooking skills, the perfect cover for Marie-Claire is to run a cafe in the small town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Here, she can listen into conversations and gain information to share with the Resistance, but she does become actively involved in some of the more dangerous activities of the group. One of her key roles though is to share messages through the community in the form of recipes which contained secret codes! Being busy doing something to undermine the Nazis gives her purpose and helps her begin to heal from her terrible losses. 

While we are learning about Marie-Claire's life and role in the war, in the modern story line, Jules and Esther finally have time to work through their dormant feelings for each other and decide if there is any chance of a future together. However, it is never going to be all plain sailing given that Jules has a very successful career in Paris and Esther lives in England. 

Throughout the story we hear about the role that Dorset played in the planning for the D-Day landings, about the paratrooper who got stuck on the spire of the church in the town and had to play dead for a few hours before he could be rescued and so much more.

We visited Normandy when we went to Europe and really loved it. We liked the WWII history, the food, and the cider was so good, as in really, really good. However, we couldn't visit every little town. It's a shame not to have visited Sainte-Mere-Eglise as there is an Airborne museum there, and they commemorate the paratrooper getting stuck which is based on a true story. When I was looking at some information about the town I found it really interesting that the coat of arms for the town now even includes two parachutes. 

I hadn't read Rachel Sweasey before and I am happy that I have now. I am really keen to read her back list each of which feature the region around Poole (which is where her family is from), and WWII France. I was interested to see that Rachel now lives in Brisbane. 

As part of the promotional information for the blog tour, we were sent a recipe for Marie-Claire's Poulet Vallee d'Auge which sounds delicious! Because this is a Weekend Cooking post, I had to share the recipe with you all!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews, with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host, and with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story. This also counts for my read on a theme book club where the current theme is War. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the book

The Girl from Normandy

Paris, 1940: Marie-Claire steps into the Gare de Lyon, not knowing it will be the last time she'll see her husband and son. Fleeing occupied Paris, she travels into the countryside of Normandy, and stumbles upon a chateau near Caen and a growing resistance movement. Soon, Marie-Claire finds herself working in a cafe in the quiet village of Sainte-Mère-Église, where she tries to come to terms with all she has lost – but little does she realise that her presence in Normandy will change the course of history…

1998: Half a century later, Esther is returning to the Normandy village she visited as a teenager, seeking a break from her monotonous life. Back then, she'd fallen in love with a rustic farmhouse and the family that lived there – not least the charming eldest son, Jules Joubert. But now, when Esther discovers an old annotated cookbook in the family kitchen, she begins to realise that the place she holds so close to her heart may hide more secrets than even the Jouberts realise...

What stories does the area carry? And could this trip change Esther’s life for ever?

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/GirlfromNormandy

About the Author 

Rachel was born to English 10-pound-pom parents in sub-tropical Brisbane, Australia, and when the family moved back to Poole, Dorset, she was just 5 years old. She then grew up against the stunning backdrop of Poole Harbour where she sailed and played on the beaches of Brownsea Island and Studland, and walked across the Purbeck Hills, all of which inspired her imagination and provided the setting of her debut historical fiction novel set in WWII. Since then, Rachel has moved back to Brisbane, Australia.



Social Media Links –

Facebook: @RachelSweaseyAuthor
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/RachelSweaseyNews
Bookbub profile: @rachelsweaseyauthor

Weekly meals

Saturday - Beef Stroganoff and rice
Sunday - Leftover Beef Stroganoff
Monday - Spicy Pork and Bean Stirfry
Tuesday -  Steak, air fried sweet potato and vegies 
Wednesday - Pork chop, mashed potato, broccoli and gravy
Thursday - Enchiladas
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Sticky Apricot Chicken Drumsticks

The 1970's called and want their recipe back!

Do you ever have moments of nostalgia where you think of a recipe and then you need to make it? For me, as soon as I saw this in the Coles supermarket magazine in April, it was the recipe that we needed to try.

Whilst the recipe is relatively faithful to the original, making it using drumsticks does mean that it is pretty much doable as a weeknight meal. I did have to laugh when I made it the first time. We always cook our rice in the microwave, and when I added the peas my husband came into the room and asked what I had done to the rice.

I didn't have any Moroccan seasoning either time I made it. The first time I just didn't worry about it, but the second time I decided to make a small amount rather than the full amount using this recipe from Bowls are the New Plate. Because I only wanted a small amount I ended up adapting the recipe so I used the following measurements

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
0 teaspoon ground cloves (because I didn't have any)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Yes, I had to do maths!

If I forget to buy some Moroccan Seasoning I would make this mix again as it definitely made it taste interesting.

I did find the sauce a bit thin so we tried to thicken it up using a cornflour paste, but when I make it again I think I will not put all the juice in with the apricots. Maybe just half would be enough.

Sticky Apricot Chicken Drumsticks with Rice

1/3 cup (110g) apricot jam
1 tbs Moroccan seasoning
40g pkt Coles Simply French Onion Soup Mix
1.5kg Coles RSPCA Approved Chicken Drumsticks
700g can apricot halves in juice
3/4 cup (185ml) salt-reduced chicken stock
1 1/2 cups (300g) white long-grain rice
1 cup (120g) frozen peas
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
Flat-leaf parsley sprigs, to serve


Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine the jam, seasoning and soup mix in a bowl to form a thick paste. Place chicken in a large baking dish. Spoon over jam mixture and rub to coat. Season. Bake for 20 mins. Add apricot, apricot juice and stock. Bake, spooning over the pan juices occasionally, for a further 30-40 mins or until chicken is golden and cooked through.


Meanwhile, place the rice and 3 cups (750ml) water in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 mins or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Top with the peas. Cover and set aside for 10 mins to steam. Season and use a fork to separate the grains.


Top chicken with spring onion and parsley. Serve with the rice mixture.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Chicken Schnitzels on Turkish Bread
Monday - Pork Chops, Marsala Roast Potatoes, Broccoli
Tuesday - Sticky Apricot Chicken Drumsticks
Wednesday - Kimchi Fried Rice
Thursday - Spaghetti Bolognaise
Friday - Away

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking:Chicken and Mushroom Bake

 

Whenever Jamie Oliver puts a new cookbook out, I tend to borrow it from the library before I commit to buying it! This is because while they are always very nice books to look at, over the last few books there just hasn't been that much in them that I want to actually cook!

I was trying to articulate this to my husband recently, and I couldn't quite get it straight why and probably ended up sounding like a bit of a food snob.  I don't know if it is in the quest to become super accessible the recipes have lost their way, or if he just doesn't do flavour profiles that we like to eat. Maybe it is something to do with the fact that some of the ingredients just aren't available here in the same forms and therefore I go that's not the recipe for me. Not sure.

There were some interesting ideas in this book, but the recipe that jumped out most was this one for a Chicken and Mushroom Bake. My husband does most of the cooking in our house, and he said that this was super quick to prepare, and it was very tasty. It almost tasted like a risotto.

We didn't use the mustard suggested and rather than using frozen leaf spinach we stirred fresh baby spinach through at the end. I quite liked the little pops of lemon that were in the dish, but I think we will probably leave that out next time. 

His latest book is Easy Air Fryer. We are on the hunt for some good air fryer recipes so I will be requesting this book from the library. We do have a couple of air fryer books that we picked up from Kmart a few years ago, but we aren't particularly inspired by them. Hopefully we will find some in Jamie's book!

I'm sharing this recipe so we can find it again after the book has gone back to the library.

Chicken and Mushroom Bake (Jamie Oliver)

4 large free-range chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in
Olive oil
400g (14 oz) mixed mushrooms
1 x 295g (10.4 oz) tin of condensed mushroom soup
1 x 400g (14 oz) tin of butter beans
300g (1 ½ cups) basmati rice
1 lemon
200g (7 oz) frozen leaf spinach
4 teaspoons English mustard, plus extra to serve

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.

In a 25cm x 35cm (10in x 14in) roasting tray, toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of black pepper. Scatter the mushrooms in, tearing larger ones if needed. (For extra crispy skin, fry the chicken thighs until golden before adding the mushrooms.)

Tip in the soup, then drain and add the butter beans. Follow with the rice. Fill the empty bean tin with water and pour into the tray. Finely grate in the lemon zest and mix everything together.

Bring the chicken to the top, skin side up, making sure the rice is submerged. Nestle in the frozen spinach.

Cover with oiled tin foil and bake for 50 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes to crisp the chicken.

Fluff up the rice and spinach, season to taste, and mix the mustard with lemon juice. Drizzle over the bake before serving.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Coconut Prawn curry and rice
Sunday - Bread rolls with roast beef and gravy
Monday - Out for dinner
Tuesday - Steak, baked potato and coleslaw
Wednesday - Baked Tuscan Chicken
Thursday -Chicken Shwarma
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Baked Tuscan Chicken (Adam Liaw)

Adam Liaw is an Australian TV cook, food writer, author, presenter, lifestyle TV show producer and so much more! He's done well since he won the second series of Masterchef Australia back in 2010.

Late last year I saw an article by him where he was talking about which recipe was the most liked recipe on the SBS food website, and it was this one for Baked Tuscan Chicken. This recipe comes from Adam's show The Cook Up, which is on every weekday. Each episode he invites two guests on. They could be chefs, or comedians, actors or anyone really. Some times they can cook, and other times they cannot. Each episode is themed and he will cook something and then the two guests will cook up a dish to meet the theme. This recipe came from an episode called Made to Share.

We already knew that we liked the flavour combination of cream, sundried tomato, chicken and spinach as we have a baked pasta version that we make quite regularly using a recipe from Recipetin Eats. I was still keen to try this as a much quicker version which you can then serve with pasta, rice or I guess even mash! And it's a winner that we have now added into our regular recipe rotation.

We tend to just use thigh fillets instead of cutlets which are bone-in, as my husband doesn't really love eating chicken on the bone.

I did think I had taken a photo of this recipe, but it seems I have not. I will take one next time I make it and update the post.

Baked Tuscan Chicken (Adam Liaw)

6 chicken thigh cutlets
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 brown onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

200 g sundried tomato strips

300 ml thickened cream

2 tsp Italian seasoning (or 1 tsp each dried oregano and thyme)

60 g baby spinach leaves

½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 200˚C (180˚C fan-forced). Season the chicken cutlets generously on both sides with salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in an oven-proof heavy-based frying pan over medium heat, then add the chicken, skin-side down in the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the chicken is browned. Remove the chicken to a plate.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and fry for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Stir through the sundried tomatoes and cream, then return the chicken to the pan, skin-side up. Sprinkle with the Italian seasoning, then bake for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thickened.

Divide chicken cutlets between serving plates, then add the baby spinach and parmesan to the pan sauce, stirring to wilt the spinach. Spoon the spinach, sundried tomatoes and creamy sauce over the Tuscan chicken and serve.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Chicken kebabs, baked potato, coleslaw
Sunday - Airfried fried chicken, chips, coleslaw
Monday - Ham and Mushroom Pizza
Tuesday - One Pot Cajun Chicken and rice (new)
Wednesday - Spaghetti Bolognaise
Thursday - Chicken Shwarma
Friday - Out for dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Chicken Cacciatore

 A month or so ago I reviewed The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan for Cook the Books. 

The recipe I cooked for my post was a chocolate cake, but originally as I was reading the book I was very tempted to make Chicken Cacciatore. Two other people ended up making it, so it was probably good that I didn't make it as well. However, for a couple of weeks after, I kept on thinking about Chicken Cacciatore and so it was that we decided to cook it recently. We really enjoyed it, so now I am posting it for two reasons. One is to share  it with you all but the other is so that when we want to make it again we can find the recipe again.

Chicken Cacciatore almost feels like a retro dish. Back in the 80s, my mum used to buy the jars of pre-cooked sauce but I don't think I have had that for years, although according to the website, the company still makes it.

What exactly is cacciatore? The word translates to hunter in Italian and the idea is that it is the kind of tomato and onion based stew which you would then cook whatever you caught. It just so happened that we caught boneless chicken thighs at the supermarket!

We don't like olives, so we omitted those. We also used a can of roma tomatoes rather than fresh tomatoes. We served our cacciatore with pasta, but if we make it another time I might serve it with couscous. Actually, we have some leftovers in the freezer so maybe we will have it for lunch with couscous because that is so quick to cook!

Chicken Cacciatore

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (or boneless if you like)
Salt and pepper, to season
1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic, (or 6 cloves)
1 yellow capsicum diced
1 red capsicum diced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
300g sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup pitted black olives (bleugh!)
8 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons each freshly chopped parsley and basil 
1 teaspoon dried oregano
150 ml red wine
820g crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
200g Roma tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

 
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy cast iron pan. Sear seasoned chicken on both sides until golden, about 3-4 minutes each side. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add remaining oil to the pan. Sauté the onion until transparent, about 3-4 minutes. Add in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the vegetables (except the roma tomatoes) and herbs. Cook for 5 minutes until vegetables begin to soften.

Add the wine, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan, cooking until the wine is reduced, which should take about 2 minutes.

Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, roma tomatoes and chill flakes. Season with salt and pepper to your tastes. Return chicken pieces to the pan and then cover, reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer (while stirring occasionally) for 50 minutes or until the meat is falling off the bone. Garnish with parsley and serve.

You can also cook this in the oven at 190C, cooking for 50 minutes, then remove the lid and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Scrambled eggs on toast

Sunday -  Bacon, mushroom, zucchini pasta

Monday - Baked potatoes and chicken skewers

Tuesday - Butter chicken and rice

Wednesday - Takeaway

Thursday - Chicken fried rice

Friday -Chicken tenders, mash, beans and gravy

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Easy Skillet French-Style Chicken

As soon as Tamara from Thyme for Tea announced that Paris in July was back I started looking for inspiration for something that we could cook and share during the event. I knew I had seen something, but I couldn't remember where, until I picked up one of the supermarket food magazines and the recipe was there on the front cover. 

We have had this a couple of times now and I do see it become part of our regular meal rotation going forward. In fact, I think we are going to have it again this week.  I particularly enjoy how the chicken turns out. The skin is delicious and the inside is tender. I also think that the recipe would be pretty easy to adapt in terms of using the ingredients you have in the fridge? Want to throw in more carrot. That should work. Or a leftover potato. Should be okay. It feels like it should be a pretty flexible recipe.

Easy Skillet French-Style Chicken

1.6kg chicken pieces on the bone
2 tbs plain flour
2 tbs olive oil
50g butter
200g small brown mushrooms, halved
4 bacon rashers, coarsely chopped
8 shallots, peeled
1 leek, pale section only, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled, thickly sliced
1/2 cup (125ml) Coles Real Chicken Stock
1 cup (250ml) dry white wine or extra chicken stock



Preheat oven to 180°C. Place chicken pieces in a large sealable bag. Add the flour and season. Seal bag and shake to coat.

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, in batches, and cook for 3 mins each side or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate.


Melt the butter in the pan. Add the mushroom. Cook, stirring, for 4-5 mins or until golden. Transfer to a separate plate. Add the bacon and cook, stirring, for 1-2 mins or until light golden. Add the shallot and leek and cook, stirring, for 3-4 mins or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 2 mins or until aromatic. Add the carrot and cook for 3-4 mins or until just tender.


Add the stock and wine or extra stock and cook, scraping the base of the pan, for 2 mins or until heated through. Return the chicken and mushroom to the pan. Season. Cover and bake for 30 mins. Uncover and bake for a further 30 mins or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens.

Weekly Menu

Saturday - 

Sunday- Vegetable and meatball soup

Monday- Vegetable and meatball soup

Tuesday- Crispy Skin Salmon

Wednesday  - Chicken Provencal

Thursday- Bacon, Cauliflower and Leek Gratin

Friday -Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Weekend Cooking: Chicken Kiev Tray Bake

We have been predominantly working from home now for well over a year. I guess it has been long enough now to consider this to be normal, as opposed to a new normal.

One of the advantages of being at home all day is that it is much easier to eat dinner at a reasonable time. Previously we would finish work around 5.30 so we would be getting home at around 6.45 and then start to organise dinner. By being at home, it does mean that you can do some prep between meetings or tasks. For example, on the nights when we are having baked potatoes, it is nothing to wrap them in foil and then put them in the oven and then going onto the next task.

We have tried a few different tray bakes over the journey and the recipe I am sharing today is one that we tried recently and enjoyed. Robert enjoyed it so much that we ended up having actual home made chicken kiev a couple of weeks after the first time we made this

On the website it is called Lazy Chicken Kiev Tray Bake, but I have chosen to remove the word lazy because maybe it is more smart and/of efficient rather than lazy. It is definitely a 70s throwback taste wise, but we really enjoyed it, especially the crunchy flavoured bread crumbs which you could use on other dishes as well.n

Chicken Kiev Tray Bake 

4 (about 950g) chicken breasts, lightly scored
80g garlic butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp chopped fresh continental parsley leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 small lemon, rind finely grated, cut into wedges

105g (11/2 cups) fresh white breadcrumbs, made from day-old bread

250g baby truss tomatoes
250g green beans, trimmed


Preheat the oven to 210C/190C fan forced. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Place the chicken on the prepared tray.


Place the butter, parsley, chives and lemon rind in a bowl. Season. Stir well to combine. Spread half of the butter mixture over top of chicken breasts. Stir the breadcrumbs into remaining butter mixture. Press the breadcrumb mixture onto the chicken breasts.


Scatter the tomatoes and beans around the chicken. Spray the vegetables with olive oil. Season. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and the chicken is cooked through. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Weekly menu

Saturday: 
Sunday: 
Monday: Out for dinner

Tuesday: Zucchini, parmesan and tomato risotto
Wednesday: Pork Nachos

Thursday: Steak, baked potatoes, green beans
Friday: Takeaway 

I am hoping that Mr Linky is working a bit better this week. There were some issues with it last week!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.