Cooking with Speed!

I love taking my time with cooking... I like to just slowly enjoy each step, have a cup of tea or coffee during the process, do this and do that, listen to music and end up with something fantastic from the kitchen!

However, I was challenged a couple of weekends ago! I have never cooked with such speed, and was cooking for friends who had high expectation *grin*!!! Thank God it turned out pretty okay, despite the rough approx measurements here and there, and the sauce that turned out pretty nice in the end :) (thanks for the encouragement!!!)

So if you ever run out of ideas of what to cook, although I will say this wouldnt be the fastest thing to cook, (nothing beats 2min noodles), it is pretty awesome for the amt of time that it actually takes you to cook it! So have a go!

Jamie Oliver's puff pastry chicken thing... he calls it "My old man's superb chicken" - this is a dish that I'm sure will win your guests heart! Simple, with really fresh ingredients, not much salt, and fantastic tasting :)

Okay, it doesn't look that great here, we were too hungry by the time it was ready to really take artistic and perfect shots... but with this, all you do is buy ready made puff pastry, fresh chicken breasts (nothing beats this - so much nicer when you eat it the day you buy it!), and to make the stuffing, fry a bit of olive oil with chopped garlic (use fresh if possible, it is WAY better!), chopped fresh mushrooms and a handful of italian parsley (or also known as flat parsley). Add freshly cracked pepper and salt to taste. Simmer till mushroom and parsley is tender.

Stuff the chicken breast with this mushroom mixture, wrap the chicken breast with the puff pastry, and pop it into the preheated oven (approx 180 degrees) for about 45mins.

To make the white wine mustard sauce... just a couple of tablespoons of wholegrain mustard and a glass of white wine, simmer till the alcohol smell is practically gone.

Serve with salad or oven chips.

Next... dessert... self saucing chocolate coffee pudding (taken from Donna Hay's magazine) - now this is an awesome recipe.... it's got self raising flour, almond meal, coffee, cocoa and sugar of course, but hey wow this is yummmmyyyy with a capital Y - baked straight from the oven, and eaten with some fresh cream, sensational! :)






(P.S.stay tuned for a restaurant/cafe review........ this is my new favourite place!!!)