KFC style chicken fajita

I love fajitas, I find them so practical and they are good whether you decide to use chicken, mince or opt for the veggie option. What I find always makes a good wrap are some fried/ roasted peppers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and grated cheese – I’d say those are always my staple ingredients in a fajita. I love crispy chicken and as I walked past KFC the other day it made me really want a chicken fajita! So I decided to try and make it at home. Once you have made you crispy chicken breast then it’s super easy and you can also make your own breadcrumbs. Slice you chicken and add your other ingredients to the wrap. Otherwise you can make a simple and delicious wrap that’s great when you’ve got a few friends round.

Here’s how to make a typical fajita.

What you need:
4-5 Wraps
Meat of your choice
1 onion sliced
2 peppers
1 – 2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
Chopped tomatoes mixed with thinly chopped chilli & shallots
Sour cream
Grated cheddar cheese
Lettuce leaves

Crispy chicken fajita

When I make fajitas with normal chicken chunks or mince I fry the onion first then add the meat and spices and a few minutes before it’s ready add the peppers. These spices are also very similar to the ready-made fajita kits you get but are much healthier!

Put the wraps on a plate covered with tin foil and place in a low heated oven for 5 minutes before serving.

In seperate bowls put the meat, the tomatoes, sour cream,, cheese & lettuce leaves. Place wraps and bowls on table and start filling the wraps with your favourite ingredients.

Enjoy!
Mel

What you will need:
2 slices of bread
1/2 finely chopped garlic clove
Tyme and rosemary (about a tsp eash)
Salt & pepper

Toasted bread

Toast your bread and add to a blender along with all the other ingredients.

Blend toast

Blend all the ingredients until you get a small crumb.

Under grill

Place the breadcrumbs in an oven tray under the grill for a couple of minutes or until they take a golden colour.

And there you have it, homemade crispy breadcrumbs that only take a few minutes to make.

Now you can have fun adding them to fish and meat! See our http://melandjoycook.com/2012/09/01/crispy-baked-chicken/

Enjoy!
Mel

A concoction for colds

Are you suffering from a terrible cold?! If so I have the perfect concoction that I make when I’m bunged up and feeling ill. Bear with me, I know it sounds a little unusual BUT I promise it actually tastes ok.

What you will need:
Half an onion or 1 small onion chopped in quarters
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
Half a lemon and it’s juice
3 to 4 cloves
About a thumb’s worth of chopped ginger
1-2 tbsp honey
2 mugs of water

Beat the cold

In a pan add all the ingredients except the honey and bring to a boil. Drain the water into a mug and add the honey. Drink and hopefully you’ll feel better!

Get well!

The benefits of the ingredients:
Onions have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties
Garlic has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties
Cloves have many properties some of them being antioxidant, antiseptic, local anaesthetic and anti-inflammatory (great for those sore throats).
Ginger is an antioxidant and has direct anti-inflammatory effects
Lemon has many properties, some of which are antibacterial, antiviral, and immune-boosting
Honey antioxidant, soothes and makes the whole drink taste that much better

Violet infusion
If you have a bad cough or cold an infusion of dried violets can also help as they have antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic properties.

Get well!
Mel

Smoked salmon mousse stuffed in cherry tomatoes

This is the easiest appetizer to make and really has the wow factor. It’s great alongside a glass of bubbly.

What you will need:
15 cherry tomatoes (mixed colours are always pretty)
100g smoked salmon
2 tbsp philadelphia/ soft cheese
Half a lemon’s juice
Salt and pepper
Piping bag

In a blender add the salmon, soft cheese, lemon juice and once all ingredients are blended into a smooth mousse add salt and pepper to taste and blend quickly.

Smoked salmon mousse

Cut off the top of the tomatoes and remove the seeds so they become like an empty shell. Put the mouse in your piping bag (you can just use a spoon if you don’t have one) and pipe the mousse into each tomato. I add a little bit of the mousse under the tomato before placing them on the serving dish so that they don’t roll around.

You can also add a tiny slither of lemon on top or some parsely.

And voila! Super simple, impressive and yummy!

Enjoy!
Melanie

I made the whip cream and chocolate ganache to step it up a notch.
This was a BIG hit with friends at the dinner we hosted last night.

What you will need:
1 box Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
1.5  Cups of Whipping Cream
8oz Chocolate Bar
8 Graham Crackers
1/2 Cup of Scalded Heavy Cream

I made 6 pots out of this so change accordingly if you want to make more or less.

First make the instant pudding which just requires milk. SUPER EASY. It sits for 10 minutes in the fridge.

Whipped cream

Then whip 1.5 cups of whipping cream.

Fold the instant pudding into the whipped cream. Put it back in the fridge to sit while you make the chocolate ganache.

Fold cream

First chop your chocolate into bits. Then pour the cream in a double boiler over medium heat. As soon as it starts to bubble, add your chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted.

Melt chocolate

Let the ganache sit off the heat for a few minutes to help it thicken.

You can either layer this with graham crackers in a small casserole dish or in individual pots.

The pots are cleaner and have a better presentation but either one works.

Lay crackers

You just layer graham crackers and the spread the vanilla cream over it. Put the vanilla cream mixture in a baggie and piped it out for better control but you can just spoon it.

Pipe cream

You should be able to do this about three or four times before topping it off with chocolate ganache.

Continue layering

Let it sit in your fridge for at least an hour before serving.

This is a quick and easy dessert that looks and tastes like you slaved over it!

Enjoy!
Joy

Tomato, mozzarrella and basil puff pastry tartelettes

These tomato, mozzarrella and basil puff pastry tartelettes are super easy to make and perfect for an apperitif or starter. You can make them as big or small as you want.

What you need:
Cherry tomatoes (you can use any tomatoes you want)
Mozzarrella
French mustard
A whisked egg yolk
Ready made puff pastry
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper

Heat your oven to 220C

I use ready made puff pastry but if you want to make your own, good luck.

Roll out your puff pastry and cut out squares, then cut out rectangles that will go around each side of your square, so two will be longer than the other two. These will make the sides of your tartelettes puff up really nicely.

Use a kitchen brush or a clean paint brush with a bit of yolk (kind of like paint) to stick each rectangle to the square.

Cover the bottom of the square with some mustard and the add sliced tomatoes and torn up pieces of mozzarella.

Puff pastry tartelette

You now want to brush the outside of the pastry with egg yolk, this will give your tartlettes a lovely golden colour when they are cooked.

Place on a baking tray and in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

When they are ready add salt, pepper and some chopped basil on the top et voila, an easy little starter.

Enjoy!
Mel

Fried plantains

I went round to my friend’s house for a yummy Saturday lunch. Now Sarah has already featured on this blog because of her fantastic cooking which is Cuban inspired, http://wp.me/p1sdbX-4k. So we made homemade burgers and exchanged chips for some fried plantains.

Plantains are fried all around the world, wherever they are grown but they are also getting more and more popular in the UK as they are just delicious and easy to find!

What you will need:
1 plantain for 2 people
Vegetable oil
Non stick cooking paper (we used a piece of white paper)
Salt

You can fry in a pan or in a frying machine.

Peal the plantains and slice them, about 4cms high. Add oil into a frying pan, you want there to be enough oil to cover at least half the height of a plantain slice. Boil the oil and add the plantain and wait until it starts to golden, then turn and do the same on that side.

Sliced plantains

Remove the slices onto a plate and then one by one place them in the cooking paper, fold and press down to squash.

Squash plantain

Return the pieces to the oil until they have a crispy looking exterior.

Fry plantain

Remove from the oil and place on some kitchen paper and spinkle with salt. Serve straight away whilst nice and hot.

Enjoy!
Mel

Celebrating Uganda’s 50th birthday

A little song from Jon Snow

Mel

Quinoa porridge

This is my FAVORITE porridge to eat in the morning now! It’s full of protein and fiber. It keeps well overnight too. Sometimes I make it the night before and reheat in the morning. You can easily make this dish non-dairy by omitting the whole milk and increasing your coconut milk.

What you will need:
1 Banana (Unpeeled and Whole) *I use 2 bananas because I love the creaminess and body it adds to the porridge but it does overpower the peach flavor, so you decide.
25-35 Slices of Frozen Peaches
1 Cup Quinoa
1 1/2 Cups Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup of Whole Milk
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1-2 Teaspoon Honey (you decide how sweet you want it)

You can just use milk if you prefer instead of coconut milk.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the bananas and peaches on a lined baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. (Halfway through, I drizzle a little olive oil over the peaches).

Roasted banana and peach

Bring milk and coconut milk to a boil. Whisk a few times to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of your pan. Once your milk boils, add your quinoa and bring to another boil. Whisk a few times before letting it simmer. Then cover and simmer on lowest heat for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, the milk WILL NOT all be absorbed in the quinoa. This is what you want. You should be able to see some milk when you add your fruit and puree.

Blend fruit

Once your fruit is done, put a little more than half of it in a blender and add your honey, cinnamon, vanilla and a splash of milk (you decide which kind). Be sure to fold the whole fruit and puree to your quinoa and cover until all milk is absorbed about 1-2 minutes.

Add fruit into quinoa

I add a pad of butter before serving but that is optional. Top with toasted coconut and/or macadamia nuts.

Enjoy!
Joy

Crispy Baked Chicken

Here is what you will need:

2 Eggs Beaten
3-4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
3 Tablespoon Canola Oil
1/2 Cup of Flour
1 Sprig Fresh Rosemary (Chopped)
1 Sprig of Fresh Thyme (Chopped)
1 Cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Cup of Panko Bread Crumbs
Salt and Pepper

Set your oven to 400F degrees.
Put foil on a baking sheet and set aside.
Next, pound each breast on both sides to help tenderize it.

In a small bowl, beat your eggs and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine your Flour, Rosemary, Thyme, Panko Bread Crumbs, Salt and Pepper and Italian Bread Crumbs. Mix thoroughly. Now, on your stove top, heat your frying pan with a medium-high flame and add the Canola Oil.

Assuming your pan is nice and hot, take each breast and dip it into the egg mixture, then immediately in the bread crumb mixture and straight into your frying pan.

Fry the breasts on each side for about 5-7 minutes.

It depends how brown you like it. Once each breast is browned, place them on your baking sheet and throw in the oven for 20 minutes.

I either serve this with a salad or I mix Mayonnaise and Dijon Mustard for a dipping sauce.

Enjoy!
Joy