Come Dine with Kirsten

As part of a uni project, I had to create an interactive model of some sort that related to new media and something that interests me. So what interests me? Cooking? Bingo. I decided to host a dinner party, whereby each of the particpants could choose an ingredient of their liking to be included in the meal, and this was done by text messaging (interactive). The participants were:
1) James
2) Karen
3) Tony
4) Jim
5) Kirsten (myself)

I told the first particpant, James, one item that would be included in the meal. This was mozzarella. He then chose an item to match with this - pepperoni. The next particpant, Karen, knew the previous ingredient that James had picked. She texted me the next ingredient - chicken. I could see where this was going - they assumed I'd be making a pizza because of the generic ingredients of pepperoni and mozzarella. Nope, it wasn't over yet. The next particpant, Tony, knew of the chicken. I requested he suggest a vegetable to accompany this - he texted saying green beans. Jim then knew about the green beans, and I suggested he request a type of potato to accompany them - hence a full meal! He asked for mashed potato. As the host, I decided to add a flavouring now that I knew ALL of the ingredients in the meal and started to plan a dinner - paprika.

So - what to make?! I knew they were expecting a pizza of some sort. But that seemed too easy. I've always been good at New York chicken so I made something similar to this. I sliced the chicken breasts down the centre, but not quite all the way through. Then I added sliced of mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. I prayed this was going to taste nice. I chose the paprika because I thought it would complement the spicy chicken well, and not make it too boring. These I then baked in tin foil for around 30 minutes, then removed the tin foil for another 5 minutes to crisp them up. I also like to serve green beans with NYChicken so this was a good match.

Now for the mashed potato, I decided to bring a modern twist on the traditional recipe. I recently went to a restaurant that served "crushed" potatoes - half mashed, half roasted/boiled? I'm not quite sure. But it was yuuuuummy. I thought this would be a good spin on the mashed potatoes, so to make them I boiled about 8 potatoes until they were very fluffy. Then I roasted them in a pre-heated dish for about 10 minutes to get them slightly crispy. Then for good measure, I transferred them to a frying pan and half-mashed them up. Add a little rosemary and garlic for some gooooood flavours!

When serving, I used a metal rings on each plate and spooned heaps of the mash into each ring, then pressed down. When you remove the ring, it gives a restaurant-standard quality of presenting the mash - nifty, huh!?

I chose Vanilla baked cheesecake for dessert, too. This was the majority result of a Facebook (new media) poll in my status - where I simply asked "Chocolate/Cheese/Fruit for dessert?" and six out of 10 friends replied "cheese."

Comments from the participants:
1) James - I really liked the meal. We were all expecting something like Hunter's chicken for dinner because that's what Kirsten always makes - don't get me wrong she does that well, too! So it was a nice change for her to do something different. I admit, when she said mozzarella I thought it was a pizza so that's why I said pepperoni!"
2) Karen - "Tasty, the mozzarella and pepperoni were a good combination with the chicken. Very morish!"
3) Tony - "A unique experience. I had a wonderful time."
4) Jim - "I think the crushed potatoes were amazing. I normally hate mash potato so that's why I challenged Kirsten to try and make me think different - and she definitely did! The chicken was good, too."

So, overall it was a good evening. I initially had doubts that this wouldn't work out well, hence why I chose to have some input in what type of ingredient could be included e.g. a vegetable. But I think the combination of chicken, mozzarella and pepperoni really worked out and I can't wait to try out crushed potatoes again!!!

Any feedback on this post is greatly appreciated and would be included in my final evaluation. I thought it would be an idea to get comments from my followers to see what your reaction to the whole process is, and how it could be improved/changed etc. Again, this is using new media and interactivity, so my tutor will be very happy! Many thanks for anything you say :)

Happy Baking x

New York Chicken

This dish has lots of names, I've heard it called the Chicken Melt, New York Chicken and Cajun Chicken before, but I don't know why. I have an unhealthy obsession with New York though so I think I'll stick with that name :)
So, what is it? I'm sure you've all had it once in your lifetime at least. It's a great meal, and will really impress your friends since it looks like you've put a lot of effort into it. However, it's actually really simple, and I made it the other night in a bid to woo my boyfriend (way to a man's heart is your cooking, ladies!). Safely say it worked :D
Chicken, with melted cheese and bacon wrapped around it. YUM! It's usually served with barbecue sauce drizzled over, but if you don't like it, Reggae Reggae sauce or even gravy is a good alternative.

Ingredients:
- Boneless chicken breast - these can be misshaped, economy lines from Asda for all I care. Still tastes yummy. Have one piece per person, about the size of your palm.
- Cheese - dependant on your tastebuds, it's up to you how much.
- 2 rashers of bacon per person
- Additionally, add BBQ sauce, gravy, or whatever you have on chicken to take away the dryness :P

Method:
-  Pre-heat your oven to 175'C.
- Wash the chicken under a cold tap, leave on a chopping board whilst you tend to your other ingredients.
- Chop a line of cheese, about 1cm thick and 10cm long. Don't make it longer than the piece of chicken.
- With a sharp knife, slice a line down the middle of the chicken piece, but don't pierce right through. It's more of a slit, really. Insert your stick of cheese into the line.
- Arrange your rashers of bacon so they lie parallel to one another on the chopping board. Place the chicken piece on top of the bacon, and carefully wrap the loose ends around the chicken.
- Using a square of tin foil, wrap the chicken pieces individually in the foil, starting underneath and finishing with the opening at the top of the chicken. This will allow so that when the chicken is almost cooked, you can open up the foil easily and brown it off.
- Repeat these steps for each of the chicken pieces. Once you are ready to bake, pop them on a deep roasting tin. This allows for any run-off of melted cheese to be caught.
- Bake them for around 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is thoroughly cooked (no pink bits!). For the last five minutes, open up the foil casing on each piece and brown off your bacon for crispyness :)

Serve and enjoy with roast potatoes, chips, vegetables, salad - whatever you fancy!
Happy cooking, blogging world! I have an engagement cake to blog about in a few days, watch this space ;)

Kirsten x

Vegetable Pasta Bake

Sorry, pasta again guys... It's so easy! And sorry also for not having a post in so long - it's Easter Break and I've literally just settled down after probably the most hectic month of my life. I had looooads of deadlines for Uni, had to plan my 4 Year Anniversary with my boy, then it was my birthday, and to top it off, my mum was in hospital :( So you understand why I haven't had time to tell you about the wonderful world of cooking...

Anyways,  this is uber yummy AND it's also Weight Watchers approved so very healthy all round, wouldn't you say? Pretty much, if you've tried my Cheesey Pasta recipe - think that with vegetables. Mmmm!

It's so simple, feeds a family, and it's healthy. Perfect meal, huh?

Okay, here we go:

Ingredients:

1tbsp Butter
4 tbsp Plain Flour
As much Cheese as you want
Semi-Skimmed Milk - probably at least 300ml. You'll see why in a bit...
Vegetables - I chose broccoli, peas and carrots for my mixture. Add mushrooms, onions, green beans, potato if you want... It's whatever you fancy - veggies are good for you, go crazy with them.
125g Macaroni Pasta
Half a slice of wholemeal bread

Method:

1) Get 3 saucepans. As per my photo, use one for the Cheese Sauce, one for the Veggies, and one for the Macaroni. Get the kettle going for some water to boil the veg and pasta. Get these going as soon as possible.
2) Meanwhile, melt your butter in your remaining pan, and mix in the flour until you get a doughy mixture.
3) Gradually add small dashes of milk to your dough, mixing the entire time. You don't want dough to stick to the bottom of the pan. Keep doing this, gradually adding milk, until you get a creamy consistency like you would a carbonara sauce. Add in the cheese 'til it melts into the sauce. Hey ho - you've made a Cheese Sauce via the Roux method! Go you!
4) Okay, your sauce is ready. Your veg and pasta most probably is, too, by this point. Remember, if you can run a knife smoothly through the boiling items, it's ready to eat. Drain your veg and pasta.
5) In your largest saucepan, add the pasta, the veg and the cheese sauce altogether. Get a large oven-proof dish and pour your concoction into the dish, spreading evenly.
5) Whizz your bread in a food processor for a few seconds until you have breadcrumbs. Sprinkle these evenly over the pasta/veg/sauce mush.
6) Chuck the whole lot under your grill for 3-5 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden.
7) Voila! Serve, enjoy, and tell your friends :)

Kirsten x

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Hello beautiful people :)

Spaghetti and Meatballs... Simples! Another pasta dish, I know. I said this was gonna be a basic cookery blog :P No, this is not just an ordinary meal. Did a little altering. Do we have any Dragon's Den fans in the house? I added about some Reggae Reggae sauce to the bolognaise and OOOH it was to diiiiie for! Also, tried the new Co-operative Beef Meatballs, they were on offer - £2 for 25 balls. Hehe... Anyways, my boyfriend was being really picky last night and couldn't be bothered to pick the pineapple off a Hawaiin Pizza. So we went to the Co-op and saw that there was a little offer going on: Meatballs + Spaghetti Pasta + 2 Sticks of Garlic Bread + a Jar of Sauce +£4. Not too shabby, huh?? But, like I said, my boyfriend's VERY picky. So we ended up buying a basic Dolmio sauce that wasn't in the offer, and I thought we had garlic bread at home. But we didn't. Fail. Long story short, it was an epic meal that I will definitely try again. The meatballs are a great alternative to just regular mince. Want the recipe? Here goes:

Ingredients:

1 Jar of Tomato Pasta sauce. I know, I'm lazy and could've made it from scratch with onions and tinned tomatoes etc. But I don't like onions or tinned tomatoes. So Dolmio it was :)

1 packet of Dried Spaghetti

1 tray of beef meatballs. Alternatively, make your own! Just get minced beef, mix in a bowl with a little olive oil and roll into balls on a floured surface.

Optional:

5 tbsp of Levi Root's Reggae Reggae sauce.

Garlic Bread to Serve.

Method:

1) Heat a little oil in a frying pan, and boil a kettle full of water.

2) Transfer the boiled water into a deep saucepan and turn on the hob to keep it boiling. Add in your spaghetti. Don't worry if it sticks out of the pan, it will relax as it cooks and drop into the pan itself.

3) Add the meatballs to the oil, fry until brown all over and cooked right through.

4) Pour the contents of your sauce jar into a jug. Add your Reggae sauce (if using, optional but freaking amazing!) and stirrrr. This was the part where I also SEIVED my sauce for my picky-ass lad. He doesn't like any onions or whatever either. So, yes I seived the sauce. Quantity went down quite a bit then!

5) Pour your sauce over your balls.(:P) Let it simmer until the sauce gets a bit bubbly, then you know it's ready.

6) Your pasta should be cooked by now. With spaghetti it's easy to tell if it's cooked because it's not straight like when you took it out of the packet. Drain it and spoon a hearty amount onto each plate.

7) Dish out your meatballs to each plate, then add any remaining sauce. Serve with garlic bread if you have chosen to chuck some in the oven :)

Kirsten x

Traditional English Sunday Roast

Ahh, I feel so full.

I've just made - for the first time! - a full English Roast Chicken with all the trimmings. I don't understand why people think cooking is so hard, it's easy-peasy to make a roast! I just think people can't be bothered with all the peeling, chopping and roasting. Yeah, to be honest, it does take ages. 2 and 1/2 hours for me. That was for three people. I really don't want to bog you down with a recipe for this one, you all should know how to peel vegetables, chop 'em up and whack 'em in a pan of boiling water until you can slide a knife easily through them. (Well, if you didn't, there you go!) We had a medium-sized chicken for roasting, without giblets, so that was easy. Just pop into a deep dish, brush with vegetable oil for crispyness and cook for about an hour or so on 190C. Now Roasties, on the other hand, a lot of people don't know how to make. I'll let you in on the secret for extra-extra-crispy ones:

You will need roasting potatoes.
As many as you want, depending on how many you are serving.

Wash them. Peel them. Chop them down. Boil them. When you can slide a knife easily through one of the potatoes, they are ready to be baked. If you want them crispy, leave them another five minutes. This allows for the potato to become fluffy and break apart on the edges easily. Drain off your 'taters in a colander. Transfer to a deep oven-proof dish and completely cover in cooking oil. Use a cooking brush to really drench the potatoes. If you want, sprinkle some mixed herbs over them to give them a kick. Pop the dish in the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes or until your preferred crispyness. Done!
And here is what I made earlier:

Roast chicken with herby roast potatoes, carrot and swede mash, green beans and sage and onion stuffing. There was a boat of chicken gravy, too. Dessert comes next :)

Kirsten x

Cheesey Pasta

My ultimate dish!

I know cheesey is spelt wrong, but this is how it's supposed to be spelt when I cook it - emphasis on the cheeeeeeeeese :D This meal is so easy, so perfect, so simple and so DELICIOUS... I have never encountered anyone who has turned their nose up at it. It doesn't look a lot to look at... BUT DO NOT LET THAT DETER YOU AWAY FROM THIS SCRUMPTIOUS MEAL!
You can't go wrong. Well, you can - of course you can. But you won't, there's always a way around mucking up a cheesey pasta dish. So, what is it? Pretty much, it's a very basic Spaghetti Carbonara. Without the white wine, without the mushrooms (if you want...). It is just as simple as the title - pasta... with cheese sauce.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Plain Flour
3 tbsp Butter
1 and 1/2 cup of Milk
Grated Cheese (As much or as little as you want)
1 tsp Smooth Mustard
Any Dried Pasta: You should know how much you need depending on how many you are serving. I normally scoop a bowl of dried pasta into the saucepan per person. (Spaghetti works well, as does any other shell or shape)
FLAVOURINGS: Bacon. Mushrooms. Onions. Vegetables. Sausage... I could go on.

The method is very simple, it's called a roux method. I learnt that in Secondary School :)

1) Start cooking the pasta. This is a very quick recipe, so it's best to boil the kettle first then add to a hot saucepan. Add your pasta shapes and a bit of salt or vegetable oil for taste.
2) Melt the butter in a hot saucepan. Sift the flour into the saucepan and mix with the butter until a dough has formed.
3) PAY CLOSE ATTENTION. While keeping an eye on your simmering pasta, add a small amount of the milk to the dough in the other pan. Mix together until the dough has formed again. Keep adding small drizzles of milk until the dough begins to relax and forms a batter substance. This is where you have to keep an eye on it, if you do not constantly stir the mixture, it will set on the bottom of the pan very, very quickly.
4) Once you have added all of the milk, you will have a creamy sauce mixture simmering away. This is where you need to add your mustard and cheese. Tough if you don't like mustard - do it anyway. I don't, and my boyfriend's mum slipped it into the dinner one night without my realising. It really brings out the taste of the cheese, even if you have a really mild type.
5) Add any of the other ingredients you want to add for flavour. Bacon is really yummy in this. Vegetables are even yummier for a healthy, vegetarian option.
6) Once your pasta is cooked, drain away the excess water and add your cheese sauce to the pasta. Stir until it's all covered, and serve! Voila!

N.B For an alternative topping, try adding breadcrumbs to the cheesey pasta and grill for a minute or so. Gives the pasta a delicious, crunchy kick.

You guys won't be disappointed... Let me know how it goes!

Kirsten x