Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Coronation chicken sandwiches and potato salad

Tuesday: Cayenne cinnamon ribs with maple glaze, corn on the cob and potato salad

Wednesday: BLT's and soup

Thursday: Thai yellow chicken curry with jasmine rice

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Chicken curry and coconut rice

Tuesday:  Spanish hamburgers

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: Spag bol and salad

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Tamarind Chicken

Randal has been really wanted to try and make something with a tamarind marinade or sauce. I don't know if they still have it as we haven't been there for a long time, but the melting pot used to have a tamarind sauce that Randal just loves, so when we were at the British Isles store recently he actually found a jar of tamarind chutney, and immediately said we had to make something with it and decided that chicken thighs would be great and we really did both enjoy them.

8 bone in chicken thighs
1/2 cup tamarind chutney
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp five spice
1 tsp ginger

Mix the chutney, ketchup, sugar, five spice and ginger together.  Pour over the chicken thighs, refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400

Remove chicken from the marinade, place on a baking tray and cook for 30 minutes, or until cooked through.

Tangerine Cupcakes

Another cupcake recipe I tried for the upcoming bake sale. I have lots of chocolate cakes on my list, so I thought something citrusy might be nice.  I made a tangerine cake batter and my favourite swiss meringue buttercream, coloured orange and flavoured with tangerine juice.

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2  cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
zest of one tangerine
3 tbsp. fresh squeezed tangerine juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 Cup milk

Preheat oven to 350, line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a small bowl, mix together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, add the zest, juice and vanilla and mix well.  Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk.

Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full and bake for 18 minutes.

Tangerine swiss meringue buttercream:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 large egg whites
1 cup + 2 tbsp of sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp tangerine juice
zest of one tangerine
 pinch of salt

To make the frosting, put a few inches of water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the egg whites, sugar and salt into a bowl that will fit over the pan of water and whisk until it reaches 150 degrees and the sugar has all melted. Transfer mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk on medium speed until the bowl feels cold (this can take up to 10 minutes) add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, finally beat in the vanilla and the tangerine zest and juice.

Chocolate Butterscotch Cupcakes

Randal came up with the idea for these cupcakes, based on these Salted Butterscotch Caramels that he loves from Trader Joe's.  We experimented with putting those caramels in the batter then baking, or putting them in the center of the baked cupcakes while still warm, and we found that the baked ones just didn't work, but putting a caramel into the center of the warm cupcake resulted in a slightly melted, soft caramel center.

Chocolate Cupcakes:
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. valrhona cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
12 butterscotch caramels

In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Divide between baking cups and bake at 350 for 22-24 minutes.While the cupcakes are still warm, place a caramel in the center of each cupcake.

Butterscotch Buttercream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup butterscotch topping

1 tsp vanilla extract

16 oz icing sugar

3 tbsp milk

Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add the 3 tablespoons of milk and beat until smooth.

Mango Cupcakes

I am always looking for new cupcake recipes to try, especially at this time of year when my husband's office holds a bake sale. I found these mango cupcakes over at Hungry Rabbit and I couldn't wait to try them. I have never made a mango cake before, and these cupcakes start with making a mango puree that goes into the cake batter and turned into a mango curd, finally frosted with a mango swiss meringue buttercream.

Mango Puree:
24 ounces mango
1/4 cup sugar

Place the mango and sugar into a blender, puree until smooth.

Mango Curd:
3/4 cup of the mango puree
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp lime juice
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

 Place mango puree, sugar, lime juice, salt and egg yolks into a saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, whisking constantly until thickened, and temperature reaches 170.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.  Stain through a sieve, cover the strained curd with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Cupcakes:
1/4 cup mango puree
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
1 cup cake flour
1 tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter,

Preheat oven to 350, line 2 cupcake pans with liners.

In a small bowl whisk together mango puree, egg whites, egg, coconut milk, coconut oil and extracts. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt, mix on low speed until combined. Add butter and mix until combined. Add in the mango mixture and mix until just combined.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 18 minutes.  Leave to cool.

Once cupcakes are cool, cut out a cone shape from the center of the cupcake, fill the center with mango curd, cut the end off the cake cone and place back over the mango curd.  Frost with the mango swiss meringue buttercream.

Mango swiss meringue buttercream:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 large egg whites
1 cup + 2 tbsp of sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup mango curd
pinch of salt

To make the frosting, put a few inches of water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Put the egg whites, sugar and salt into a bowl that will fit over the pan of water and whisk until it reaches 150 degrees and the sugar has all melted. Transfer mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk on medium speed until the bowl feels cold (this can take up to 10 minutes) add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time, finally beat in the vanilla and the mango curd.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Chicken curry and coconut rice

Tuesday: Country club chicken

Wednesday: Lasagna rolls

Thursday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans

Friday:  Tacos
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Lasagna Cupcakes

Time for another Secret recipe Club reveal. This month I was assigned the blog Morsels of Life.   There are so many recipes to choose from on this blog that it took me a long time to decide what to make.  In the end I decided on these Lasagna Cupcakes as I have seen them a lot on other blogs and on pinterest but I have never made them myself, plus I had some wonton wrappers that I needed to use up!

These really are a fun thing to make, I used my favourite pasta sauce recipe and just like with regular lasagna I used cream cheese instead of ricotta, that's just our preference.  I really enjoyed these, Randal liked them apart from the crispy tops!

Sauce:
1 lb ground beef
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
8 oz mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
1 tbsp italian seasoning
1 tsp worcester sauce
1/4 cup fresh basil
salt and pepper

Wonton wrappers
Cream cheese
Shredded mozzarella

In a large frying pan brown the beef, drain and add the diced onion, bell peppers and the sliced mushrooms, cook for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and tomato paste and mix together well.  Add in the italian seasoning, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and worcester sauce.  Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add in the fresh basil.

Preheat oven to 375

Spray a muffin pan with non stick spray.  Place a wonton wrapper in each cup.  Put a layer of sauce, followed by about a teaspoon of cream cheese and a layer of mozzarella.  Top with another wonton wrapper and repeat the layers.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Creamy Pan Fried Pork with Apple and Sage

One of my favourite things to make with pork is somerset pork, this is very similar to that but it has the addition of creme fraiche and mushrooms. Randal absolutely loved this and we will definitely be making this again.

4 pork chops
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion, sliced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 apple, sliced
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup creme fraiche
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp oil

Combine the flour with the paprika, salt and pepper. Coat the pork chops in the seasoned flour.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the pork and brown on both sides, remove from pan.  Add the onion, mushrooms and apple, cook for 5 minutes.  Add the apple juice, garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano and creme fraiche.  Add the pork back to the pan, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Pizza burgers and garlic fries

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans

Wednesday: Somerset pork

Thursday: Spanish hamburgers

Friday:  Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Meatball and Tomato Tagine with Lemon Saffron Couscous

This is a Moroccan stew that is usually cooked in a tagine, I don't own a tagine but this dish can still be cooked just as well without one.  I found this recipe over at the view from the great island and I loved that the meatballs were made with a mix of beef and lamb, as Randal usually won't eat lamb, but mixed with beef I thought I could get away with it, and I did!

Meatballs
1/2 lb ground lamb
1/2 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
1/3 cup parsley, minced
1/3 cup fresh coriander, minced
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil, for frying

Mix everything together except for the oil.  Form into 1 inch sized meatballs and brown in the hot oil.  Set aside.

Sauce
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 whole tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sweet paprika
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Place everything in a large saucepan, simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.


Lemon Saffron Couscous
1 lb couscous
2 cups water
1 tsp saffron threads
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 2 lemons
zest of 2 lemons

Place the water and saffron in a large saucepan.  heat until simmering, turn off the heat and let steep for 10 minutes.

Bring water back to a boil, add the lemon juice, lemon zest, oil and salt.  Add in the couscous, stir and turn off the heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Eggs benedict

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Country club chicken

Thursday: Spanish hamburgers and garlic fries

Friday:  Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie