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Summer Treats With Rennie

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For me Summer food is all about variety. Lots of different dishes so that I can have a bit of everything without having to choose. Barbecues with ribs and burgers served alongside potato salads, corn with chilli and lime butter and grilled halloumi.

Lazy al fresco dinners of pasta with huge green salads and olives and various cured meats.

When Rennie asked me to create a summer dish I chose a seasonal fruit – figs to base my recipe around. I tried a fig and cheese starter at a wedding recently and I’ve been wanting to create something similar ever since.

Baked Figs with Bacon, Sundried Tomatoes & Mozzarella

You will need:

2 fresh Figs quartered
4 rashers of good quality smoked bacon
4 large Sundried Tomatoes
4 slices of Mozzarella

Place your quartered fig onto the middle of your bacon rasher, add a sundried tomato followed by a slice of mozzarella and wrap tightly with the bacon ( as if you are making pigs in blankets ). Repeat with the remaining figs.

Baked figs with bacon

Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Baked figs mozzarella Sundried tomatoes

Serve immediately with a large leafy salad and herby potatoes.

To make herby potatoes: roughly chop 8 medium potatoes ( I leave the peel on ), heat 2-3 tbsp of olive oil in a large roasting tray. Add your potatoes ( carefully ) and sprinkle over 2 tbsp of fresh herbs – I used thyme and crushed black peppercorns and cook in a very hot oven until golden and crispy.

Roasted herb potatoes

Luckily I don’t tend to get indigestion (..unless I’m heavily pregnant ) after a meal but if you do suffer with this I can recommend Rennie ( I practically lived on them during my last pregnancy ).

This post has been supported by Rennie®, but all thoughts are my own.

Comforting chicken casserole

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Last Sunday I decided to try out one of the recipes in the Slow Cooker book I received for Christmas – Chicken Fricassee. It sounded delicious. After following the initial first step of tossing my chicken in seasoned flour and sautéing until brown I realised I didn’t have two of the key ingredients I needed to make this dish but I was determined to make SOMETHING so I worked out what I did have and what I came up with was this amazingly rich and comforting chicken casserole. Afterwards I scribbled down the recipe as I assure you this is one I’ll be making again.

Chicken Casserole

You will need:

2 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken thighs ( the original recipe called for thighs & drumsticks)
3 slices of smoked bacon chopped finely
2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt&pepper
4 shallots, sliced
3 garlic cloves crushed
3 waxy potatoes and 1 sweet potato chopped into very small pieces
115g of sliced mushrooms
2 tsp of finely chopped fresh rosemary
150ml red wine
200ml of hot chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Salt & Pepper

Heat oil in a large pan, toss chicken in seasoned flour and then cook for 8-10 mins until golden brown. Remove and set aside.

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Add your bacon and shallots and cook for a few mins stirring occasionally. Add your garlic, mushrooms, potatoes and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes stirring often.

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Add your wine and bring to the boil then allow to simmer for 1 minute. Transfer everything to the slow cooker and pour in the stock, add the chicken and bay leaf cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

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45 minutes before the end of cooking time use two forks to tear your chicken thighs into smaller pieces – this should be easy as it will be super tender, also at this time if desired add dumplings. These are a wonderful addition to the casserole but it would be perfectly lovely without them.

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Serve with dumplings or fresh homemade bread – lots of bread recipes will appear shortly as part of my new challenge. I made soda bread to accompany our casserole.

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““This post is part of the #FaveFamilyRecipes Competition with BritMums and Tilda Rice. Every pack sold will provide a meal to an expectant mum in need in support of the World Food Programme’s Mothers Helping Mothers initiative in Bangladesh.”

Super (food) sides

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Curly Kale may not be that familiar to you. Not all supermarkets stock it and its only readily available from September- March. Kale is a brassica and part of the cabbage family, it’s very attractive in dishes due to its green curly leaves and packed full of nutrients – considered by many to be a superfood. I have only recently started buying it but I can tell you it’s delicious and versatile.

The recipe below is one I have made previously with Savoy cabbage but I actually prefer this with the Kale.

Sautéed curly kale with bacon and sweet potato

You will need:

Curly kale ( I buy washed and ready to cook) break up any big bits and discard chunky stalks
2/3 rashers of bacon diced
1/2 a sweet potato chopped very small
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 a banana chilli diced finely
1/2 a red onion diced
Butter
Olive oil
Seasoning

Heat a little butter and olive oil in a large frying pan or cazuela, add your sweet potato, onion, garlic, bacon and chilli and sauté for 10 minutes or so until bacon is golden and everything else is softening. Add your curly kale, season and cook for a few more minutes. Don’t overcook and ensure it doesn’t burn.

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Serve immediately on warmed plates – cold kale is like cold cabbage. Not good.
This is great as a side with chicken or fish or on top of spaghetti aglio olio – yum.

Last time I made this I threw in a handful of peppery rocket right at the end and it was very good!

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Served on top of spaghetti with a small amount of crumbled extra mature cheddar.

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Don’t neglect one of the most nutritionally rich vegetables in Britain. Next week I’m going to try making Baked Kale chips as a low calorie alternative to crisps.

Sprouts Recipe – Bacon, Chestnut & Cream

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Hands up if you love sprouts? I love sprouts, love them love them love them. I only used to eat them on Christmas Day, why is this? I know it’s traditional but they are soon good. I intend to eat them at least a few more times this winter..especially after the quite frankly (pats self on back) amazing recipe I used them in today. I’ve seen a few variations of this kind of sprouts recipe in restaurants over the years and I decided to have a play and create my own. So here is my take on some incredible sprouts which I’m sure could persuade even a hardened sproutaphobe ( that’s not a word – I made it up ) to have a nibble.

Sprouts Recipe – Bacon, Chestnut & Cream

You will need:

200g of fresh sprouts, quartered
A handful of chestnuts diced ( I used vacuum packed chestnuts)
100ml of double cream
6 rashers of bacon, diced
1 squeeze of garlic puree or 2 cloves, minced
25g butter
pinch of black pepper and seasalt
A pinch of dried chilli flakes

Sauté your diced bacon and chestnuts in a little oil until golden, add your sprouts, garlic and butter and cook for a further 10 minutes on a medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add your double cream, chilli flakes and seasoning and cook for a further 2 minutes.

This is so tasty. It would of course be wonderful served with your traditional Christmas dinner but it would also make a really delicious side dish with any meats, vegetables or even on its own.

If you love sprouts you will love this, if you hate them I say give it a whirl – it just might change your way of thinking.

sprouts recipe

Update: This is a fairly old recipe, one of the first on my site in fact. It is however one of the recipes that I continue to go back and make over and over, as such along the way I have made slight amendments to my original recipe. Now it is even better!

Follow this link for even more sprouts recipes.

Eating well on a budget- simple suppers

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The nights are getting colder and I want to create more warm, inviting dinners but without spending a fortune. I will try to post recipes as and when I use them to give you some tips for cheap and cheerful meals that all the family can enjoy.

Tomato and bacon gnocchi bake

500g Gnocchi – I use Il Pastaio Gnocchi which is a bargain 78p in Asda
400ml Passata – I typically use the value range from Sainsburys or Asda which is around 30p.
4 or 5 rashers of smoked bacon diced- roughly £1.50
75g of cheddar grated – approx £1
2 garlic cloves diced finely -approx 20p
1 glug of Olive oil -from cupboard
Any fresh herbs you have (dried at a push)
Sea salt
Black pepper

Cook gnocchi to packet instructions and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a small cazuela or ovenproof pan and sauté garlic and bacon until bacon is golden, add your gnocchi and passata. Stir well adding your herbs and season. Sprinkle over grated cheese and place in your oven for 15 minutes until golden on top and bubbling.

Serve with a large leafy salad.

Serves 2 hungry adults with a little leftover.

A beautiful tasty meal for around £4.

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