maple glazed chicken "the donna hay way"

While I am still suffering from this flu that is taking over the Gold Coast, i flipped through the pages for a really simple dinner, that looked quick and easy. I found donna hay's Maple Glazed Chicken on page 16 of  Fast, Fresh and Simple and although it was in the Fast section it sure was Fresh and Simple.

Ingredients
1/4 Cup (60ml) Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup (60ml) Water
1/2 Tsp Dried Chilli Flakes
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt Flakes
1/2 Tsp Cracked Black Pepper
2 x 200g Chicken Breasts, Trimmed
Roasted Parsnips & Steamed Sugar Snap Peas, to Serve

the "donna hay way:"
Place the Maple Syrup, Water, Chilli, Salt & Pepper in a non stick frying pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and add the Chicken. Cook for 4-5 minutes each side or until Chicken is cooked through. Serve the Chicken with the Pan Sauce, Roasted Parsnips and steams Sugar Snap Peas. Serves 2.

Maple Glazed Chicken

Lady Dash says:
This was a very cheap dinner to make! All up the Chicken, Parsnips and (i used) Snow Peas cost just over $10.00, everything else i had as pantry items. I trimmed the chicken to my liking and then i halved the fillet down the middle to make it the same thickness so it would cook even. At first the sauce looked very watery but as the temperature got hotter the sauce became sticker so don't panic. I did find it very silly that there were no cooking instructions for Parsnip, common donna lets face it- its not that popular a vegetable with Youth. So i googled it and came across this Taste.com.au Recipe and it was delicious, i think i have found a new vegetable! For the Snow Peas I blanched them and sprinkled salt before serving.

I didn't think that this would fill Horn up but it did, if you have big boys maybe by an extra piece of chicken and cut it into strips just incase. I had removed the tenderloin and cooked it and sliced it up for Horn to take with Salad for lunch. Horn loved it, and I thought it was a nice change from boring old chicken, if you like spice maybe double the chilli content for a bigger chilli hit.
Score 7/10

Steak & Three Veg "the donna hay way"

It has definitely been a while since my last post, I have been working on some new projects that i cannot wait to share with you soon. One of my favourite things to eat is Eye Fillet, i love this cut of meat and i eat it at least once a week. So when i saw Donna Hay's fresh take on Steak and Three Veg, i couldn't wait to give it a go.

1 x 300g beef eye fillet steak

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Aïoli, to serve

1 large potato, peeled and sliced with a vegetable peeler

1 sweet potato (kumara), peeled and sliced with a vegetable peeler

1 parsnip, peeled and sliced with a vegetable peeler

50g butter, melted

½ cup (40g) finely grated parmesan

1 tablespoon thyme leaves

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

the "donna hay way"
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). To make the three veg, place the potato, sweet potato and parsnip in separate bowls. Divide the butter, parmesan, thyme, salt and pepper among the bowls and toss to combine. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Pile each vegetable into 2 flat piles. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden and crisp. While the vegetables are cooking, cook the beef. Sprinkle the beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan over high heat. Cook the beef for 3 minutes each side or until well browned. Place on a baking tray and bake for 4 minutes for rare and 7–8 minutes for medium. To serve, slice the beef in half and place on serving plates with the three veg. Serve with aïoli. Serves 2.


Lady Dash says:
This recipe is easy to follow, and has very little washing up, yay! The parmesan and thyme mix smothered between the veggies gives the most beautiful aroma when cooking. If you have any men in the house it will not pass as Steak and 3 Veg, i knew that this would not even put a dent in Horns appetite so i decided to make it a "Build Your Own Dinner".

Build Your Own Dinner

I sliced and toasted Ciabatta, dressed Rocket leaves with Balsamic & EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and we sat in front of the TV with a glass of wine and had a little donna hay steak and 3 veg tapas plate.

Toasted Ciabatta topped with Rare Eye Fillet
Balsamic Rocket & Aoili

Would this replace our normal steak night? We both really liked this dish but would call it a snack, not a meal. The veggies really were delicious and i recommend giving them a go.
Score: 8/10

I have been busy in the kitchen, not the computer!

Where has the week gone or weeks i should say...... I know i haven't updated a post in a while and I am sorry i have been in Melbourne but i have still been a busy bee in my kitchen of course... Up coming posts will include a mix of donna hays recipes and some of my own Lady Dash creations.

donna hay
"a cooks guide" Creme Caramel

donna hay
Fast, Fresh, Simple Cider Roasted Pork Belly

donna hay
Fast, Fresh, Simple Steak & 3 Vege

donna hay
Fast, Fresh, Simple Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken

Lady Dash Creations
Beef Casserole with Rice

Lady Dash Creations
Eye Fillet with Beetroot Puree, Green Beans &
Horseradish Cream

Lady Dash Creations
Pumpkin Ravioli filled with Spinach & Ricotta and
Pomodoro Sauce

Lady Dash Creations
Canape of Toasted Ciabatta topped with
Rare Eye Fillet, Balsamic Rocket & Aioli 

Lady Dash meets Curtis Stone "Chef & Top Bloke"

Curtis Stone and Lady Dash @ Roosevelt Hotel in LA

Such a Top Bloke (im using the word bloke for a reason) didn't mind an Aussie interrupting his night for a quick photo op.

donna hay "BAKE AT HOME" Vanilla Cupcakes

Friday was the day for me and my good friend Fizzle Out to get together to take some piccie’s while making the donna hay "Bake at Home" Vanilla Cupcakes . If you have read my past posts about making the donna hay "a cook's guide to Vanilla Cupcakes you would know that they weren’t very successful- shape and size were fine but the dense texture and heavily buttered flavour was not nice at all. 

When Fizzle Out arrived at my place I had made some lunch for us, while we were eating we were chatting about this and that and started talking about my very unsuccessful attempt at the a cook’s guide cupcakes. Expressing my confusion on what the hell happened to them- TWICE, she asked to take a look at the recipe. While reading she asked if my BAKING POWDER was in date, my puzzled face must have been a dead give away that I had no idea if it was or that they had an expiry date. I went to the cupboard and picked up the packet and started to laugh I was like um it expired in May…. Fizzle Out started laughing also but then looked at me ask said “That’s BAKING SODA, not powder- is that what you used?  Giggling awkwardly I replied, “is there a difference? I thought one was the Aussie name and one was the American name. Laughing even more so now Fizzle Out let me know that yes there is a big difference and this must be why the Vanilla Cupcakes were a small disaster.

The purpose of making the “a cook’s guide” vanilla cupcakes, were to compare if paying the $7.99 to make 12 cupcakes is worth it and do they achieve the same result. To settle this debate I will now have to make the “a cook’s guide” vanilla cupcakes AGAIN (third time lucky) using the correct ingredients… All I can say is sorry DONNA HAY!

Now back to the donna hay Bake at Home Vanilla Cupcakes, I was sent the range by donna hays peeps to give it a whirl and blog about my findings. I opened the box and inside was 12 Cupcake Liners, 1 Packet of Cupcake Mix and 1 Packet of Icing Mix, reading the back of the box it had a small list of fresh ingredients that I needed to add:  Cupcake Mix needed 125g Butter, 2 Eggs, ¾ Cup of Milk and the Icing Mix needed 125g Butter and 1 Tbs of Milk. Well that easy every amateur cook has those ingredients on hand at any one time.

donna hay
"Bake at Home"
Vanilla Cupcakes

Reading the box I followed all of the “donna hay way” instructions to the minute and measurements. There is lots and lots of whisking/whipping involved, so i am now very glad i had my kitchen aid on Friday (Find out what happened to my kitchen aid).

The end result was pretty dam good if I might say, I had bought a piping bag to give them the extra wow factor but the cupcakes on the box hadn’t been piped only iced with a spatula, the a “cooks guide” ones had been piped.

Cupcakes Baked to Perfection

I might be a little biased with my findings as I am a cream cheese frosting girl, I love it, so the butter based icing for me was not that pleasant to eat as I felt like I was eating whipped butter, which you basically are. The texture of the icing was perfect for using a piping bag or spatula it just made me feel unhealthy which I know probably sounds weird as I am after all eating a cupcake. The cupcake its self had a fluffy texture that peeled perfectly out of the liner, it was a beautiful pale yellow and tasted delicious with a hint of vanilla, a perfect afternoon reward for a day in the kitchen.

donna hay
"Bake at Home"
Vanilla Cupcakes
by Lady Dash

At this point, I would have to say that this trial was a success- it made 12 Bake at Home Vanilla Cupcakes that look picture perfect and tasted really good but until I  make my final decision on whether it is worth the $7.99 purchase price plus fresh ingredients I will have to let you know, once I make the donna hay “ a cooks guide” Vanilla Cupcakes with Baking Powder not SODA…..

Score 9/10 (It was the icing that didn't make it 10/10

Thanks so much to Fizzle Out more my amazing photos they make such a difference.

RIP KITCHEN AID..... who killed the Kitchen Aid?

If you follow me on twitter/facebook you made have seen my posts about the sudden and unexpected loss of my Kitchen aid. Yesterday while baking in the kitchen i thought i would try and make fresh bread to go with our "Sexy Sunday" dinner, boy was that a HUGE mistake. 

Reading the packet instructions instead of my Kitchen Aid instructions i turned the Kitchen Aid up to speed 6 and thought to myself while walking to the bin "Geez im so lucky i dont have to knead this myself" and then BANG. I came running to the kitchen and there was my beautiful Kitchen Aid lying on the floor, i raced over picked her up and put her back on the bench "sigh of relief" she looked ok. 

I plugged her back into the wall and she was a little bent over but i thought she is ok so i turned her on then BANG again the head fell of the stand, terror and sadness took over my whole body, now covered in flour i started to cry...

The Victim

Not knowing what the hell to do, whether to tell Horn or act like nothing had happened...... Minutes went past and my lip started to quiver, then tears filled my eyes, i had to tell him. 

I was very embarrassed to go outside as Horn had a friend over and they were having a beer while looking at a Harley Davidson (a fantasy moment for him). I went to the fly screen and yelled "baaaabe" (very shakily) he immediately knew something was wrong and then burst into free flowing tears and said "the kitchen aid is broooooken"!

Being as supportive as he could be about my loss, he said calm down lets read the warranty and see what it says. Reading the warranty i was thinking as if they are going to warrant being an idiot but any how i flipped through the pages and finally i found a service number. I immediately called the number hoping they would be opened at 3pm on a Sunday- of course there was no answer. 

Coming out of the office Horn suggested if anyone else, had one that i could borrow to finish dinner- I replied "Hi its Ashe, can i borrow your $750 Kitchen Aid? I just broke mine." I starting laughing and so did the boys but seriously would you lend me yours?

Its now Monday and i have been on the phone with the warranty company- sending photos and details... Its not under warranty but hopefully it can be fixed..... Fingers Crossed

The Murderer

dinner party "the donna hay way"

Before our overseas trip, we purchased a dining suite off our friend Courtney's mum unfortunately we didnt have time to use. So i jumped at the chance to through a small dinner party when Horn was out at fight night last Saturday.

Struggling with a mild hangover from the Fabulous Fridays lunch the day before, i needed to plan a menu and write my shopping list. Once i had come up with something i phone my gal pal Jadee and asked her opinion she said "yeah good" haha. 

Next a lift from my brother to get my car (don't drink and drive kids) and then off to Ferry Road Markets and a place that i like to call heaven Wheel & Barrow. I will make any excuse to go in there but today i actually had a reason- i needed a white linen tablecloth to take the dinner party to the next level. Moments later and arms full i had a white linen table cloth, white block candle, scented melt for my burner, 8 wine glasses and two baking dishes- $240.00 later my Wheel and Barrow fix was fulfilled (p.s the table cloth was $90 can you believe that- $90 and it was too BIG, i used it anyway).

My doll of a hubby decided to take me out for lunch since it was GC Restaurant Week and every one had been telling us to go to Rocksalt Modern Dining check out my review here) still struggling with my hangover i accepted the invitation and said i need to be home by 2.30pm to prepare for my guests who were arriving at 7pm and of course Jadee who arrives an hour early all the time.

Now throwing dinner parties can get very x'y sometimes so i decided to charge the girls $20 each for a three course meal and if they were drinking to BYO. The shopping came to $127.00 which i am pretty impressed that i managed to feed 8 people for under $20pp. 

The Menu

First up, menu design (actually this wasn't first i forgot to do it until about 6.30pm but it doesn't make sense if i do it later). Of course the menu selection came from donna hays cook books and magazines. As it' still very cold at night i decided to do a yummy winter style menu.

The Dining Table

I was very proud of my table setting skills, and even thou the table cloth was $90 it added that wow factor when the girls arrived with the candle and mood lighting (very romantic for 8 girls haha).

Entree
Herb & Mozzarella Mushrooms with Garlic Toasts

Garlic Toasts
8 Thin Slices Baguette
Olive Oil for Brushing
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper
1 Clove Garlic, Halved, For Rubbing

Herb & Mozzarella Mushrooms
40g Butter
400g Pine Mushrooms, Halved
2 Sprigs Rosemary
1/4 Cup Sage Leaves
250g Buffalo Mozzarella, Torn

the donna hay way:
Heat a char-grill pan or BBQ over high heat. Brush the bread with oil and sprinkle with s&p. Char-grill or BBQ the bread for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Rub with Garlic and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large non stick frying pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until golden. Top with the mozzarella and place under a pre heated hot grill (broiler) for 2-3 minutes or until melted. Serve with garlic toasts. Serves 4.

Lady Dash says:
I used a BBQ to char-grill the bread and i left the rubbing of the garlic up to the individual. I couldn't find Pine Mushrooms so i used a mix of Flat Top and Swiss, I also used normal Mozzarella as the Buffalo was $16.95 per 120g and i needed 500g as i double the recipes and thats just ridiculous to spend $70 on cheese. The entree was absolutely my favourite dish of the night, it was cheesey, garlicy, hot with crusty bread what else could you possibly want on a winters night! There was some extreme garlic breath from the raw garlic we rubbed on the toasts but it was good very very good.

Main
Lamb with Rosemary, Feta & Garlic
(Image before going into the oven)

1 Small Boned Leg Lamb, Trimmed
Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper
2 Heads Garlic, Cloves Separated and Skin On
8 Sprigs Rosemary
1 Tbs Olive Oil
350g Firm Feta, Thickly Sliced

the donna hay way:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Heat a large frying pan over high hear. Sprinkle both sides of the lamb generously with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook for 4 minutes each side or until well browned. Place the lamb in a baking dish lined with non-stick baking paper and toss with the garlic, rosemary and oil. Add the feta to the pan and bake for 25 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking. To serve, slice the lamb and serve with the roasted feta and the garlic squeezed from its skin. Serves 4.

Lady Dash says:

I kind of cheated with the lamb and bought it already boned as thats way to much thinking for me to do, plus the lovely butcher chopped up the bones for Shazz and Darla my two doggies. Everybody loves a good roast and this was a roast with a twist- the salty pieces of Feta were a stand out for me. I doubled the recipe to feed 8 and i served with roast potatoes, pumpkin and green beans.

Dessert
Cheat's Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Mascarpone

the donna hay way:

Previous post: http://ladydash.blogspot.com/2011/05/garlic-prawn-pasta-cheats-chocolate.html

Once again i cheated a little as i have made this dessert before, but everyone loves chocolate and it was easy to make a large quantity. Everyone was very very full at this stage but there were a few clean plates on the table- mixed feelings about the almond meal taste too!

For the Vanilla Mascarpone whisk together tub of Mascarpone, 1 Tbs of Vanilla Bean Paste and 1/4 Cup Light Cream.

I had the most amazing time hosting my first "posh" dinner party and i cannot wait for the next one. I think i did an good job but will definitely be upping the anti for the next one- new recipes, new techniques and no roasts...