Chicken Kiev

I think Chicken Kievs have to be one of the most popular foods with children over here in the UK. The freezer section of most grocery stores are well stocked with little cartons of the same, and you can buy fresh and ready to cook versions as well.

But how really tasty is a piece of ground up chicken that has been reformed around a dab of garlic flavoured fat (is it really butter?) and then rolled in some egg and bread crumbs and fried??? Most end up dry and tasting of nothing but garlic . . . any resemblance to the real thing having been somehow lost in the translation from, what was once a delicious entree, into a pop culture fast food!



Making them from scratch is not really all that hard, and doesn't really take that long. Boned and skinned chicken breasts are wrapped around a delicious pat of frozen seasoned butter and then coated with egg and crumbs.



Fried just until golden brown, these bear no resemblance whatsoever to those pale imitations in the shops. By the time the chicken is done the butter is just melted and will gush out when you cut into it, bathing your noodles or rice, or whatever with a delicious buttery and herby sauce.

It's the real thing . . . Why settle for anything less . . .



*Chicken Kiev*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

This delicious dish hails from Russia back in the time of the great Czars. Chicken breasts wrapped around a delicious garlic butter and then breaded and fried, it is a real family favourite.

Herb Butter:
4 ounces butter, softened
1 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast portions
1/2 cup of seasoned flour
2 large eggs, beaten
8 ounces of seasoned dry bread crumbs
oil for frying



In a small bowl, with a rubber scraper, thoroughly mix the butter, parsleyk tarragon, garlic, salt and pepper together. Lay out a piece of foil. Shape the butter mixture into a 3 inch square. Wrap up and freeze until firm.

In the meantime, trim the chicken breasts of any fat and sinew. Place each piece,one at a time, smooth side down on a sheet of cling film. Cover with a second sheet. Very carefully pound the chicken out until it is 1/4 inch thick, being very careful not to break the meat. Cut the frozen butter into 6 equal pats. Place a pat of herb butter in the centre of each piece of chicken. Bring the long sides of the chicken over to cover the butt, folding the ends over and making sure that no butter is showing. Fasten with a toothpick to keep shut.

Roll each chicken piece in some seasoned flour, then dip into the beaten eggs. Roll into the dried bread crumbs, coating evenly. Place on a tray, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.

Heat some oil in a large heavy skillet. Once it is hot add the chicken pieces, 3 at a time and cook, turning with tongs, until browned all over. Drain and then place into a warm oven in a large pan that has been lined with some paper towels. Cook the remaining 3 kievs in the same way. Serve hot with some rice or noodles.

 

Corned Beef Hash and Eggs

Some days you don't want to go to a lot of effort in putting together a supper or meal.   Yes, there are some days I just open a tin of soup.   I can be lazy too . . . and in all honesty, sometimes we are just famished and don't really want to have to wait.

If you have a wee bit of time to spend though, you can't go wrong with a nice pan of Corned Beef Hash, fried up with a couple of really fresh free range eggs. I always keep a tin of corned beef in the cupboard just for this and it's doesn't take a lot of effort to boil a few potatoes.

I uset lots of onions and a bit of grainy mustard for snap.  Some seasoning and a bit of butter helps to get the potatoes and beef all crusty . . . and the eggs . . . we like em sunny side up with a bit of a bubbly crispness on the bottom and edges.   Heavenly Bliss and simple too.



 *Corned Beef Hash and Eggs*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

7 ounces tinned corned beef
2 large, free range, very fresh organic eggs
1 rounded teaspoon of grainy mustard
2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
10 ounces of floury potatoes, peeled and chopped into half inch cubes
(use a King Edward, Maris Piper or if in America a Russet)
1 1/2 TBS sunflower oil
3 TBS butter, divided
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Tomato ketchup to serve

Remove the corned beef from the tin and cut it up into bits using a sharp knife. Scoop them all into a bowl. Combine the Worcestershire sauce and the mustard and pour it over the meat. Give it a good stir to combine. Set aside.

Place the potato cubes into a saucepan with enough boiling water to just cover them. Season with a bit of salt and then cover and simmer for just five minutes. Drain well in a colander and set aside to cool a bit.

Heat a medium skillet with a heavy bottom over medium high heat and add the oil and 1 TBS of the butter. When it is quite hot throw in the onions and toss them around, stirring and cooking them until they begin to soften and brown. Add the potato cubes and continue to cook and brown the onions and potatoes, adding a bit more oil if necessary to help keep the mixture from sticking too much. Season with some salt and pepper to taste. After about 10 minutes or so add the corned beef, continuing to move everything around and cooking it until the beef is completely heated through. Turn the heat down to it's lowest setting and fry the eggs.

Place a medium sized, heavy based frying pan over medium high heat. Add 1 TBS of butter and heat until it starts to foam. Carefully break the two eggs into the foaming butter. Leave them for about 30 seconds or so to get them started, then turn the heat down to medium. Continue to cook the eggs for one to two minutes, basting the tops with some of the fat in the pan from time to time, or until they are as done as you like them. If you are not fond of *sunny side up* eggs, then carefully flip them over once to seal the tops.

Serve the hash divided between the two warm plates with an egg on top of each and plenty of Tomato Ketchup!

Pierogies

Moving out West to Winnipeg, and away from home as a young bride back in the mid 1970's was a real eye opener for me. There were so many new things to see and taste and try. Food that I had never experienced in all my years of growing up, even though . . . we had lived in Manitoba at one point during my childhood. (Gimli, Manitoba for 6 1/2 years) I don't think my parents were really all that adventurous in their eating . . . nor was my mother all that adventurous in her cooking. She was a good cook . . . but she mostly just cooked the same things, over and over again . . . but really well.



One of the first taste sensations I discovered was the humble Pierogi. Pierogi (also spelled perogi, pierogy, perogy, pierógi, pyrohy, pirogi, or pyrogy) are lovely little dumplings with an Eastern European origin, which are boiled in lightly salted water and then either deep fried, or pan fried in butter, and more often than not served up with fried onions, more butter and sour cream. Delicious!!



There are also some sweet versions, but the kind I am talking about here today are the savoury ones . . . and you can find them in a variety of fillings . . . cheese and potato, mushroom, sauerkraut, cabbage, meat, etc. All of them very, very good to eat.



I fell in love with these wonderful little dumplings . . . and when we moved out to Calgary I learned how to make them for myself. My life was never the same . . . because after that, it didn't matter where I moved . . . I knew I could always have these fabulous little beauties to eat.



We had a good friend Esther in Calgary. She was of Hungarian descent and that first Christmas we were there, we had invited her and her husband over for Christmas dinner. She brought pierogi's as her dinner contribution and they were gorgeous. I talked her into teaching me how to make them myself. She was a fab teacher and I have now been making my own now for about 35 years! Thanks Esther!!



They're very easy to make and as good as the store bought ones are . . . homemade ones can never be beat! They're the best! I never make or eat these things without thinking of Esther. She is a great gal, and I am happy to say that we are still in touch after all of these years. Lifelong friends are the best kinds I think!



Pierogies
makes a lot (about 4 to 5 dozen)
Printable Recipe

This makes a lot, but no worries as they freeze really well and you can never have too many pierogies in the freezer, doncha know!

For the Dough:
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 large free range egg
1 cup water

For the filling:
4 large potatoes
2 TBS butter, softened
1/2 pound of grated strong cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 beaten egg

First make the dough. Mix the flour and salt together. Beat the eggs and the water together. Pour this over the flour and then with oiled hands knead together until smooth. You may think this is never going to come together and be smooth, but patience really comes in handy here. Just keep re-oiling your hands as necessary and kneading. Your patience will be rewarded with a lovely smooth, elastic dough. Once you achieve this, pop a bowl over it (on the counter) and let the dough rest for 1/2 an hour.

To make the filling peel the potatoes, cover with lightly salted water and bring to the boil over high heat. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender, then drain well and mash. Stir in the butter, cheese and salt and pepper to taste, stirring to melt the cheese. You want a smooth flavourful mixture. Once you have the flavour right, (You must taste to test.) then you can beat in the egg. Set aside.

Pinch off walnut sized pieces of the dough (keeping the dough covered in between pinches). Roll each pinch into a ball and then roll with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a thin round. It should be about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Take a scant TBS of the potato filling and place it kind of off centre of the dough circle, wet the edges of the dough and then pinch shut to seal in the potato completely. Place onto a baking sheet with is lined with oiled parchment paper. Repeat until you have used up all of the dough and filling. You can let these air dry now, or pop the baking sheet (s) into the freezer until they are frozen solid and then transfer them to sealable bags and leave frozen until you need them.

To cook, bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Also place a large knob of butter into a frying pan and warm it gently until it is just foaming. Keep warm without burning. Drop the pierogies into the boiling water a few at a time and cook until they float to the top of the water, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and drop them into the foaming butter in the frying pan. Fry them until they are golden on both sides. Repeat this process until you have enough done to feed your family. These are very moreish so you will need a lot!

Keep the fried pierogi's warm in the oven until you are finished frying them. Fried onions and sour cream are musts for serving! (In this house anyways!)

I also like to make a sauerkraut filling from time to time:

3 cups of sauerkraut
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped fine
4 TBS butter
2 TBS sour cream
fine seasalt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Rinse the sauerkraut in warm water until you've really given it a good rinse. Squeeze dry and then chop it very fine. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until it is tender, without colouring, stirring frequently. Add the sauerkraut and give it a good stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the kraut is softened and the flavours have really melded. Stir in the sour cream and set aside to cool before proceeding as above. (I like to cover mine and chill it in the refrigerator until it is really cold.)



You can buy pierogi pressed, that come in really handy and work very well at pressing them closed. I've had one for years and it works a charm!

Amanda's Steak

All of my children have their favourite meals . . . you know what I mean by favourite meals I am sure. These are the things that I cooked that they loved and could not get enough of. The "Birthday Meal" requests. Each favourite meal was as varied as the child who loved it.

I wonder if you can tell someone's personality from the foods that they love??? I'll have to check into that. Perhaps I could learn something . . .



This delicious steak dish was always our Amanda's favourite way for me to cook steak . . . not that we had steak very often, as expensive as it was, but if we did have . . . you can't get much cheaper than flank.



A much under-rated cut of beef. It's lean and so delicious . . . especially if you don't overcook it. I like to cook it in big slabs, and then cut it into thin slices to serve . . . across the grain of course.



This marinade is really a Teriaki Marinade, adapted I think from a recipe I found in one of Anne Lindsey's cookbooks. The handwritten page in my binder is all spattered and fading fast . . . all the more reason to include it here. Properly cooked, it's flavourful and a real treat to eat!



By the way, Amanda is my youngest daughter. She's now a mom herself, to our only Granddaughter, Maryn. I wonder if she still likes this steak. I'll have to ask her!



Amanda's Steak
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

My youngest daughter's favourite steak. It's tender, flavourful and lean.

1 pound of flank steak
50ml of dark soy sauce (1/4 cup)
50ml of vegetable o(1/4 cup)
2 TBS white vinegar
2 TBS liquid honey
1 TBS peeled and greated fresh ginger root, or 1 tsp of powdered ginger

Score one side of the steak by making shallow cuts all over the surface in a criss cross pattern. Place the meat into a shallow dish. Whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour over top of the meat. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or at room temperature for up to 3 hours.

When you are ready to cook, heat the grill to high. Remove the meat from the marinade, discarding any marinade. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes per side. Slice thinly on an angle against the grain with a sharp knife to serve.

In the UK Flank Steak is also called Skirt Steak.

TIL NEXT TIME!!

Old Fashioned Escalloped Macaroni and Cheese

I got distracted for a few minutes yesterday and started going through my old blue binder. I came across this old treasure that I had not made in a long time and so I decided to make it for our supper last night. This was the old fashioned way of making macaroni and cheese. Simple, tasty and always welcome. 

 I'll try to put it down so that you can understand it, as the original recipe is written only as a guideline of what to do, exact amounts having been left out . . . you know how it goes, much knowledge was taken for granted back then, it was expected that a girl would know these things off by heart . . .





Old Fashioned Escalloped Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is not like regular macaroni and cheese with a super rich thick sauce, this is old fashioned in both it's taste and it's appearance. It is good, plain and simple . . . every forkful taking you back to a simpler day and time. The leftovers are very good heated up the next day, and if anything it tastes even better! A lot of old recipes are like that!

1/2 pound of dry macaroni
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup of cream
a knob of butter the size of a walnut
8 ounces of cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
(Yesterday I used a mixture of medium cheddar and red Leicester cheeses for colour)
salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup soft fresh bread crumbs
another knob of butter, melted

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and add the macaroni. Cook according to the package directions and then drain well. Rinse in cold water and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 4. Butter a 1 litre casserole dish and set aside.

Put the cream, milk and the first knob of butter into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, heating only until the butter melts. Put the cooked macaroni into the prepared baking dish. Stir in the cheese and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Pour the milk mixture over top. You should just barely be able to see the milk through the macaroni. Mix the fresh bread crumbs with the melted butter and then sprinkle them evenly over top.

Bake in the heated oven until bubbly and browned and the cheese is meltingly gooey. Delicious!!

Mrs McNevin's Goulash

When I was a very young bride I moved far away across the broad expanse of Canada to live on the wild Western frontier . . . ok, so it was really a vast urban centre . . . but it might as well have been the wild Western frontier, because I was young and away from my mom and dad for pretty much the first time in my life. I had nobody to call on for advice or help or company.



That is until I met Lil. Lil was the mother of one of my ex husband's best mates. She lived in a small town in Alberta called Olds. She was the salt of the earth. She was rather robust and had no teeth . . . but her heart was filled with the milk of charity and she gathered me into her home and her family.

I loved to go and spend the weekend at their place. They had an old British Bulldog that used to pull our daughter around in her walker by holding gently on to her hand with his mouth . . . and Mr McNevin, Lil's husband, was very much a grandfatherly figure to my son. He had flown helicopters for heli-skiing and was just loaded with interesting and colourful stories! They had a houseful of girls, each one more colourful than the last . . . it was there that I learned how to play Canasta and it was there that I ate pistachio nuts for the very first time. To a young mum and wife, away from her parents for the first time, their home was a wonderful haven.



Lil was a fabulous cook, a very unpretentious cook. Her food was lumberjack food . . . as robust and loveable as she was, filling, uncomplicated and quite, quite delicious!

This was one of the things she used to cook. She gave me her recipe and it has been a firm favourite in my home for many, many years. My kids absolutely loved this when they were growing up. Lil and Mrs McNevin have been gone for many years now, but the memories of them live on in this delicious and unpretentious supper . . . it's goulash . . . Mrs. McNevin's Goulash . . . from the pages of my Big Blue Binder.



Mrs McNevin’s Goulash
Serves 4 - 6
Printable Recipe

This recipe is a real treasure and I never make it but what I don’t think of Mrs. McNevin. She was so kind to me, a young bride living far away from the bosom of my own family. She took me under her wing and treated me just like one of her own. This deliciously spicy stewed meat goes very well with rice or noodles.

2 pounds of stewing beef, trimmed of any fat and cut into cubes
2 TBS cooking oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
½ cup tomato catsup
2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
½ tsp dry mustard powder
¼ cup flour
1 cup water

Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Season the meat lightly and coat it in the flour.

Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet and add the meat. Brown it very well on all sides. Add the onion and garlic, Cook for a few minutes longer until the vegetables are softened and quite fragrant.

Add the catsup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, paprika and dry mustard. Stir it all together well. Stir in the water.

Tip it all into a casserole with a lid and then put it into the oven to cook for 2 hours or so, until the meat is very tender and the sauce is thickened. Delicious!