Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: Piri Piri Chicken, Dressed Potatoes, Arugula Salad

Last night was the third installment of Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes cookbook test!

On the menu:

• Piri Piri Chicken
• Dressed Potatoes
• Arugula Salad

This time, I followed the recipe exactly, no substitutions at all.

Here are my thoughts:

Ingredients: Just like the other recipes all the ingredients were easy to find and economical.

Method: The method for this recipe was pretty easy to follow and was actually the simplest so far.

Cook Time: Because I skipped the dessert portion of the recipe dinner was on the table in 30 minutes.

The Food: This recipe was not one of our favourites. The potatoes were delicious but the chicken was lacking. We found the piri piri sauce to be quite strong from the vinegar and onions. I think if the sauce had some more time to cook, or was cooked prior to being added to the chicken we may have liked it a bit more. Either way it was still a satisfying meal that was easily prepared and I will definitley be making the potatoes again.

Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: Pregnant Jooles's Pasta, Crunchy Red Endive and Watercress Salad

Last night was the second of my Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes cookbook test.

On the menu:

• Pregnant Jools's Pasta (essentially pasta with meat sauce)
• Crunchy Red Endive and Watercress Salad (I used baby arugula which the book gave as an option)

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly except for a few simple swap outs. I changed the type of pasta from penne to farfalle (bowties) and instead of using sausages in the sauce I used ground veal. The recipe in the book included a dessert (little frangipan tarts) but since we try to eat somewhat healthy during the week I decided to skip it. The tarts looked and sounded delicious so I will probably test the recipe out on the weekend and bring them to a friend's house.

Here are my thoughts:

Ingredients: Just like last time all the ingredients were easy to find in my local supermarket. Besides being incredibly easy to find the ingredients were also very reasonable. My whole bill for this meal cost just over $20.

Method: This time around, the method was a little tougher than last time. This was partly my fault since I skipped the dessert. Because of this, I had to skip the steps based around the tarts and often found myself losing my spot on the page. Other than that, this recipe was easy to follow. My only other complaint was that the recipe called for the meat to be cooked on a high heat, I found for the time given to cook the meat I had to turn the temperature down a bit about halfway through the cooking time as my sauce was starting to burn but like any recipe you have to pay attention and adjust accordingly.

Cook Time: This meal was even quicker than the last one. I had dinner on the table in just under 30 minutes! In fact, when I called Jordan to the table his response was "What??? Already???"! Granted, I skipped the whole dessert section of the recipe but if you included it it would probably only add about 10-15 minutes to the cook time.

The Food: Once again, DELICIOUS! The meat sauce tasted like it had  been cooked all day and was the perfect comfort food for a cold winter's night. The salad was fresh and crunchy and was the perfect accompaniment for the pasta. Another satisfying meal from Mr. Jamie Oliver!

Tonight I am cooking my own recipe so make sure to check back tomorrow for a post on:

• Roasted Herb Chicken
• Caramelized Shallot Gravy and
• Shaved, Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: Green Curry, Crispy Chicken, Kimchee Slaw and Rice Noodles

As discussed in my post the other day, for the next few weeks I am going to be putting Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes cookbook to the test.

The book is divided up into different complete meals (3-5 dishes each) so last night I decided to cook:

• Green Curry
• Crispy Chicken
• Kimchee Slaw
• Rice Noodles

You can find the recipe on Jamie's website here.

Here is what I thought of the recipe:

Ingredients: All the ingredients were easy to find in my local supermarket. There was nothing strange or unusual, in fact I had most of the ingredients in my fridge and pantry.

Method: The recipe is written as one long process instead of individual recipes for each dish. This is a super handy feature as it allows you to do many things at once and ensures that all the dishes will be ready at the same time. My only complaint was that because the recipe was written this way, I didn't have much time to clean as I went (one of the number one rules taught in culinary school) so I (and by "I" I really mean Jordan) was left with a sink full of pots, pans, utensils and appliances.

Cook Time: This book definitley delivered on it's title. I got home from work at around 6:30 and Jordan and I were sitting and eating ALL the dishes at just past 7pm. Granted, I have a lot of experience in the kitchen, but  the everyday home chef can definitley complete this recipe in 30-45 minutes.

The Food: First of all, the chicken was AMAZING! It was perfectly crispy on the outside but still juicy on the inside. The honey and green curry paste added a delicious sweet, slightly spicy and sticky glaze that had Jordan and I licking our fingers and plates. The green beans and slaw were delicious as well. We probably could have done without the rice noodles as the three other dishes were enough to fill us, but they came in handy to soak up leftover green curry sauce from the beans.

Overall, I was very satisfied with my first meal from this book and am looking forward to the next. Thanks Jamie!

Macaroon Challenge

A few months ago, my parents went on vacation to Paris. Knowing me well, all the gifts they brought back for me were ones I could eat. One of my favorites was the beautifully decorated box from Laduree filled with eight, delicate, delicious, Parisian macaroons (or macarons, if I were French); smooth, flavourful filling sandwiched between two delicate, melt in your mouth almond meringue cookies. I had tried French style macaroons before, but none had tasted like these.

www.laduree.fr

 Doing some research on the internet I combined a few recipes, to try to duplicate these cookies, so here lies THE MACAROON CHALLENGE!!!! I decided to start small and just try the most basic flavour, a vanilla cookie with vanilla buttercream filling. I decided to throw in some food colouring, just to make them look a little bit more interesting.

Here is the recipe I used:

Macaroons

• 1 3/4 Cup icing sugar
• 1 1/2 Cups almond flour or finely ground blanched and peeled almonds
• 3 large egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 Cup granulated sugar 
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• food colouring (optional)
  

Buttercream Filling

• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 Cups icing sugar, sifted
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 
• 1 Tbsp. Heavy Cream
• food colouring (optional)
  

 
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, using a permanent marker trace circles onto the paper, using something the size you want your macaroons to be, then flip the paper making sure you can still see the circles.
3. Sift icing sugar and almond flour into a small mixing bowl, and whisk to combine.
4. In a large mixing bowl beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy, add the salt and continue to mix while gradually adding the granulated sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites form medium peaks.
5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond mixture, vanilla extract and food colouring (if using) into the egg whites until just combined. Tap the bottom of the bowl on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles.
6. Transfer the mixture into a large piping bag, with a medium sized plain tip. Pipe the mixture into the traced circles on the baking sheet.
7. Place in the oven and bake until the macaroons become slightly firm on the top and can be lifted off the parchment paper, about 20 to 25 minutes. The bottoms of the macaroons should be completely dry.
8. While the macaroons are baking, prepare the buttercream.
9. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, add the vanilla then gradually mix in the icing sugar until combined, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the cream then increase speed to high and continue to beat until icing is fluffy, about 3 minutes. Tint with food colouring if using.
10. remove the macaroons from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about five minutes, before lifting the entire parchment onto a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Once completely cool, spread about 1 tsp. of the buttercream mixture onto the flat side of one macaroon, and then sandwich with another macaroon.
12. Macaroons can be stored for about 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Here is how my macaroons turned out:

Generally, the cookies turned out pretty close to the ones I had from Laduree. Obviously, nothing is as good as the orginal, but these are lot easier then flying to Paris. I just have to practice my piping to get them into perfect circles. I'm looking forward to trying out some different flavours. Stay tuned.....