What the.......?

CHICKEN STROG

Butter

Chopped onion

Sage

Salt

Pepper

Sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup flour

1tsp paprika

Oil

1/2 cup stock

2tbsp wine

1 cup cream + 1tbsp flour

Pasta

Parsley

Apparently this is a recipe. 

And yes if you make something regularly it is all you need. Sadly I haven't made this for a few years, but common sense comes to the fore. (ME?????? Yes.)

So I look at it and know it is a recipe for 2. Which means the chicken - oh yeah what chicken? means 2 thigh fillets. When I buy them, I keep the odd sized ones aside for something like this, and keep the even sized ones for stuff like schnitties, so Her Majesty and I have roughly the same sized meals.

Then I chop the onion and sage, put the paprika in there (and add some bacon because I can.) Put them in a bag with a big lump of garlic butter. I got a kg of KI garlic after the bushfires and I'm on my last bulb...... (but I did plant one!) Pick some parsley and mix the cream and flour together. Make the stock and drink the wine...... no not really - I put it in the stock.

Then wing it!! Wish me luck!

So lets turn this into a recipe. For 2. Multiply as required.

1/2 brown onion

1 large rasher bacon

4 sage leaves

knob of butter Knob? who made that up? (Tablespoon.)

about 8 medium button mushrooms, sliced

2 good sized chicken thigh fillets
1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 cup cream

1 tbsp flour

1/2 cup chicken stock 

2 tbsp white wine

Fry onion, bacon, sage and butter until soft, then add mushrooms. Turn the heat down and cook this all up until the mushrooms turn a lovely golden colour. Take everything out and put in a dish to hold for a while.

Toss the chicken in the paprika and flour. Add a little oil to the pan. Cook the chicken until golden.

Then add in the stock, cream and wine all together. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Throw the onions etc back in, juice and all. Toss in the parsley. Then let it sit until you are ready and cook some pasta to go with it.!

I had always had a plan to write a book for home leavers to show them you don't have to live on takeaway. Sadly books are a thing of the past!!

Thinking outside the square.

A year after my last post, I've found something to "blog on" about. Combining a previous blog about using your tools to their full potential and my constant whinge about the nightmares of cooking for two, I accidentally found an ally yesterday.

Having a freezer cleanout, I found a small piece of gravy beef. I love gravy beef, cooked properly. I decided on a Beef Stew for two. Problem: gravy beef MUST be cooked slowly for hours. My stovetop is too hot. My slow cooker is too big. Thinking cap on..........

I decided to transfer the "ready to simmer" stew into an old fashioned pudding basin and put it into the slow cooker for 10 hours. I actually put a pic (below,) up on social media with others' opinions sought. Some thought I was trying to make a joke!!

This morning I checked it and was absolutely chuffed!!

I had thought the idea had merits - in the past I have done small roasts in it and they work perfectly, so the slow cooker CAN double as a small oven.

Stew for 2!! I'll be doing that again!!