Tag Archives: Onion

Chicken Stock

It’s a rarity that I have a whole chicken in the house and after devouring Heston’s perfect roast chicken on Saturday night I figured, waste not want not, I’m making me some stock!

Here is what you will need to make your very own home made chicken stock ice cubes. Recipe is courtesy of BBC Food.

  • Bones from a cooked chicken
  • 1 Carrot, peeled & chopped
  • 1 Onion, peeled & quartered
  • 1 Stick of Celery, chopped
  • 6 Black Peppercorns
  • 1 Dried Bay Leaf
  • 1 Sprig Thyme
  • 3 Sprigs Parsley

Note:

The shop around the corner from me didn’t have celery or parsley so I made do without but if you can, obviously get them. (Don’t judge me, It was a Sunday & I was being lazy!) I also added the basting juices leftover from cooking the Ultimate Roast Chicken.

First up, throw all the ingredients into a large heavy based pan.

Cover the ingredients with cold water, place on the stove & bring to the boil. Skim off any scum that surfaces.

Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for about 3 hours.

Strain the stock through a sieve or some muslin into a large bowl. If you will be using it within three days, allow to cool completely, skim off the fat that surfaces to the top & refrigerate until needed.

If you aren’t, return the stock to a clean pan. Crank up the heat and boil vigorously for about an hour or until reduced by half.

Cool the stock completely then skim off the fat that surfaces. Pour the stock into ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen, put cubes (or sea shell shapes in my case!) into a bag and store in the freezer.

When you want to use one, simply put in a jug and add boiling water to melt the cube. Or just throw into a pan with your ingredients for a more concentrated flavour.

Hope I’ve inspired you to not waste those carcasses!

Go forth and make stock my friends.

Miss KitchenMason

Bacon, Onion & Parmesan Tart!

This week’s culinary adventure comes from a book called Baking Bible. It’s got loads of really handy tips about equipment, measuring etc and makes for a very interesting read if you have the time. Oh yeah, and it has tons of really nice recipes! I spied the recipe for bacon, onion & parmesan tart and thought it sounded delicious!

First off, you can buy ready made shortcrust pastry but if you want to go the extra mile then here is how to make your own… and it’s super easy by the way!

To make approx 330g

  • 200g Plain Flour
  • 100g Cold Butter, cubed
  • 1 Egg, beaten
  • Pinch Salt

Put the flour, butter & salt into a food processor and pulse until it looks like a well mixed breadcrumb consistency. Then slowly add the egg bit by bit in between pulsing until the mixture just starts to come together. Note: You don’t have to add all the egg, just enough so it comes together. You could do this by hand by putting the ingredients into a large bowl and rub the butter and flour together but obviously this will take longer.

Pour the mixture out onto a strip of cling film, flatten into a disc, wrap and pop into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Tip! Don’t roll it into a ball as it won’t chill properly in the middle.

Take out the fridge, unwrap, put another layer of cling film over the top and roll out into whatever shape you require. In this case a circle big enough to fit the base and sides of a 24cm loose bottomed quiche tin. This way will also save you from adding lots of flour to the surface for rolling and therefore into the mix which messes up the balance between the butter/flour.

Peel off one side of the cling film then lift over the tin. With the cling film on top, gently press the pastry into the tin. Prick the base with a fork and leave in the fridge until needed.

For the tart, here is what you will need.

  • 250g Shortcrust Pastry
  • 40g Butter
  • 75g Bacon, chopped
  • 700g Onions, peeled & thinly sliced
  • 2 Eggs, beaten
  • 300ml Double Cream
  • 50g Parmesan Cheese, grated
  • 1 tsp Dried Sage
  • Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Melt the butter in a large heavy based pan followed by the sliced onions & chopped bacon. Sweat them over a low heat for about 30mins until tender. If the onions start to brown add 1 tbsp water.

Add the cream &  beaten eggs then the sage, salt & pepper to taste.

 

Next, spoon the mixture into the pastry case you prepared earlier. I had a decent amount left over so just popped it into another small baking tin and cooked it to use for a sandwich filler later : D

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the tart has just set and starts to go golden brown on top.

Leave to cool slightly until slicing. You can eat this warm or cold.

This was really really tasty! I love onions, and the bacon works so well with it. Very yummy indeed!

If I had one critique for the recipe though, I would probably blind bake the pastry next time as it ended up being slightly soggy on the bottom but apart from that I wouldn’t change a thing.

Until next time earthlings.

Miss Kitchen Mason

Veal Sausage Casserole!

Good evening Kitchen Masonites! Today I want to share one of my new favourite recipes. This delightful sausage casserole.

I adapted a recipe from a blog I have shared with you before. KayoticKitchen. I bought some Veal sausages when I was at the BBC Good Food Show and have been wondering what to do with them ever since. I had a nosy on my favourite blogs & sites and came across this belter! The best thing is how little time & effort you have to put in to get out such tasty & flavourful food. So… without further ado! Here is what you will need.

Serves 2 (Easily doubled)

  • 8 Veal Sausages
  • 1 Onion
  • 1/2 Orange Pepper
  • 1/2 Red Pepper
  • 5 Small Potatoes
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped finely
  • Oregano, 1.5 tsp
  • Olive Oil 2 tbsp
  • Balsamic Vinegar 4tbsp
  • Chicken Stock, approx 100ml

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

First you need to brown the sausages. You don’t have to use veal, you can use whatever sausages you like. Heat some oil in a heavy pan and cook until they are just starting to brown. Don’t worry that they are not cooked all the way through as they will get plenty of time in the oven later on. Remove from the pan & keep to one side until needed.

Prepare your veg next. Slice the peppers, peel the potatoes and cut them in half & then chop the onion into wedges. Put all of this in a big roasting tray and top with the sausages. My other half grew some King Edward potatoes this year and we pulled them all out a couple of weeks ago. I used them for this recipe… it’s always more satisfying when you’ve grown it yourself!

In a jug, combine the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, oil, oregano & garlic. Pour the mixture over the sausages & veg, season with salt & pepper then cover with foil.

Put in the oven for 40 minutes. Then sit back and wait for the amazing aromas to fill your home!

Take out of the oven and remove the foil. Give it a good mix to make sure everything is coated in the juices and pop back in the oven uncovered for about 15 minutes turning the sausages half way.

And there you have it… a hassle free, minimal pot washing, extremely flavourful dinner! The next time I make it it will probably add some carrots into the mix just to bulk it out a bit but apart from that I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. It’s so tasty & simple and you’re mad if you don’t give it a go! I promise you won’t be dissapointed.

If you do try it out, let me know how it goes!

Until next time.

Miss Kitchen Mason

Caramelised Red Onion & Cheese Pasta!

So this week I knocked up an old favourite of mine that I haven’t had for a while. Caramelised red onion, crumbly white cheese (of your choice) and pasta.

This serves 2.

What you will need:

  • 1 Large Red Onion
  • Crumbly White Cheese
  • 1 tsp Golden Caster Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
  • Pasta of your choice

This time I used the deliciously creamy & crumbly Lancashire cheese. I have also used White Stilton which works very well too. Use your imagination, why not try a blue cheese for depth of flavour if that’s your bag?

Anyway! What you need to do is slice up the red onion & fry in a heavy non stick saucepan in a little bit of oil until soft.

Then sprinkle over the sugar and add in the vinegar, crank up the heat & keep cooking until sweet, sticky & caramelised.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to packet instructions & crumble up your chosen cheese ready to scatter on to the pasta.

When your pasta is cooked, mix the caramelised red onion & the crumbled cheese in & serve on warmed plates with some garlic bread.

It only takes about 30 minutes to make so makes a perfect mid week supper. Also, it doesn’t make too many pots! Bonus!

Hope you enjoyed this post & thanks so much for reading. Please support my blog by subscribing on the home page.

Until next time!

Miss Kitchen Mason

Bloomin’ Cheesy Bread!

So this week I didn’t get a lot of time for food as it was my future Mother in Law’s 50th birthday party. With it being so close to Halloween, it was fancy dress so most of last week was spent making my costume instead of cakes or biscuits! There was also a fair amount of travelling involved as me and the Mr. are in Nottingham and the party was in Louth, Lincolnshire. Lovely little place, I would recommend visiting if you ever get the chance! In case you are curious I went as Sally Rag Doll from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. One of my favourite films of all time!

All things considered, I did manage to try one new thing this week. I have had my eye on this recipe for quite a while now, from recollection it was actually one of the first recipes that I “favourited” on Foodgawker. It’s called Bloomin Onion Bread.

I changed it slightly as I couldn’t find the same bread & opted to use chives instead of onion. Mainly because I had them in the cupboard.

So, this is what I used:

  • 4 Crusty cobs
  • 4 Slices of Gouda Cheese
  • Chives
  • Butter

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

What I did was slice the cobs in both directions in a “criss cross” fashion, taking care not to cut all the way through.Then I slotted sliced gouda cheese inbetween the slits.

At this point, I mixed some butter in a bowl and added chives then spread it along the tops of all 4 cobs. What I should have done, which I failed to notice in the recipe, (DUH!) is melt the butter, add the chives, then pour over the cobs and wrap in tin foil.

If I make them again I would definitely try melting the butter as I imagine it would improve the buttery taste throughout the whole cob as opposed to just on the top. I would also try it with onions  and possibly a little garlic as using chives made them a little bland.

Once you have prepared your cobs and wrapped them in tin foil, place them on a baking tray and pop in the oven for about 15 minutes. When the time is up, remove from the oven and discard the tin foil, put back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes until they’re golden on top & all the cheese has melted.

The original recipe called for sour dough cobs which I struggled to find. Next time I would use a more dense bread, as crusty cobs may be firm on the top but is a very airy bread in the middle so not as stable as I would have liked.

That being said, the concept is brilliant and this, or any variation of, would make a lovely accompaniment to any meal instead of boring bread and butter!

Definitely a recipe I will be playing with in the future.

Hope you enjoyed the post as always, See you soon!

Miss Kitchen Mason

Fillet Steak with Hasselbacks and Blue Cheese & Onion Sauce!

I wanted something different for Sunday dinner this week. So me and the Mr decided to treat ourselves to some fillet steaks. With how completely and utterly mouth wateringly delicious fillet steaks are, I didn’t want just any side or just any sauce to accompany it.

After scouring Foodgawker for some inspiration I came across these two little show stopping recipes. Garlic Hasselback Potatoes and Onion & Blue Cheese Sauce.

Serves 4. What you will need:

  • 4 Fillet Steaks
  • 4 Baking Potatoes
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • Butter
  • Olive Oil
  • 4 tbsp Butter
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 180ml – 240ml Double Cream
  • 60g Blue Cheese, crumbled
For the Hasselback potatoes, preheat your oven to 220°C. Starting at one end, slice approx 3/4 the way down the potato & continue in 3mm intervals along the entire potato. Do the same for the other potatoes. Slice the garlic cloves finely and slide a piece down every other slit. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt & pepper then put a few knobs of butter on the tops.
Place in the oven for about 40 minutes until the potatoes are cooked & the tops are crispy.
For the steaks, rub both sides with a little olive oil then season with salt and pepper. I was taught to cook them by my Dad. He sears them on both sides in a griddle pan, few minutes on each dependent on how rare you like yours. Then wraps them in foil and allows to rest for about 5-10 minutes. The resting part is quite important if you want a “melt in the mouth” texture as it allows the meat to relax making it much less chewy.
For the Blue Cheese & Onion sauce, melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan & add the onion. Saute over a high heat until they caramalise, be patient as this can take a little while. Mine started to turn golden after about 10-15mins of cooking.
Reduce the heat and add the cream then bring to the boil. Allow to reduce & thicken slightly before stirring in the blue cheese until melted. Season to taste. I found that my sauce started to get a little thicker than i’d like so just kept adding small amounts of milk until it was a little thinner.
Then promptly proceed to stuff your face! I was very impressed with both the sauce & the potatoes. The sauce was jam packed full of flavour and one that I will definitely be making again! And those potatoes would go with pretty much anything, I may try these for a Sunday roast instead of the traditional roasted potatoes.
Hope you enjoyed the read as always! Please support my Blog & subscribe clicking the “Sign me up!” button at the top of the page.
See you all next week!
Miss Kitchen Mason

Cantonese Tomato Beef!

I have always enjoyed cooking this style of food but I have never found a recipe that I would use again & again. It’s either too much prep, too many pots, too many ingredients etc. I like simple, quick & tasty food with little fuss & as few pots as possilbe! When I came across this recipe, I took one look and thought… hang on, this might just be the one! There’s few ingredients, all of which I like and the only prep there is is marinading the meat & chopping a few things. This is a Foodgawker recipe from Diana at Apetite for China. It’s been sat in my favourites list for quite some time now so I thought it’s about time I make it!

What you will need:

  • 450g approx Flank steak (I used Sirloin as could not find flank)
  • 1 x Onion
  • 2 x Cloves of garlic
  • 450g approx Tomatoes

Marinade:

  • 1 tbsp Soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
  • 1 tsp Corn flour

Sauce:

  • 2 tbsp Worcester sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp Soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine

First you need to slice your steaks. Make sure you do this across the grain or you will get very chewy pieces of meat! Then mix the ingredients for the marinade together and place in a bowl with the steak, mix well and leave for as long as you can… but at least 30mins minimum. 

Next you need to chop your garlic, tomatoes & onion. Make the tomatoes & onion fairly chunky. Also, mix together the ingredients for the sauce and set to one side.

When the steak has had sufficient marinading time, heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok. When its hot enough, swirl the oil around the sides, cook the steak until its browned but not cooked through & remove from the wok. Next, add the garlic & onion and cook for about 30secs then toss in the tomatoes. After a minute or so, add the sauce to the wok. Keep cooking until the onions have softened slightly but the tomatoes can still hold there shape. Add the meat back into the wok until it’s cooked through then serve in warmed bowls with rice or noodles.

I am pleased to say that this recipe was unbelievably quick to make, very few pots, minimum fuss with few ingredients & very very tasty!

Definitely a winner in my house, will most certainly be making again. 

That’s all for this weekend guys and gals.

Hope you enjoyed the read & don’t forget to subscribe if you like what you see!

Miss Kitchen Mason